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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/33705-8.txt b/33705-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e5f377d --- /dev/null +++ b/33705-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12495 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of In Paradise, by Paul Heyse + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: In Paradise + A Novel. Vol. II + +Author: Paul Heyse + +Release Date: September 12, 2010 [EBook #33705] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN PARADISE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + +[Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://www.archive.org/details/inparadiseanove01heysgoog + + 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].] + + + + + + + COLLECTION OF FOREIGN AUTHORS, + + No. XII. + + * * * * * + + IN PARADISE. + + VOL. II. + + + + + + + COLLECTION OF FOREIGN AUTHORS. + + +I. _SAMUEL BROHL AND COMPANY_. A Novel. From the French of Victor +Cherbuliez. 1 vol., 16mo. Paper cover, 60 cents; cloth, $1.00. + +II. _GERARD'S MARRIAGE_. A Novel. From the French of André Theuriet. +Paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +III. _SPIRITE_. A Fantasy. From the French of Théophile Gautier. Paper +cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +IV. _THE TOWER OF PERCEMONT_. From the French of George Sand. Paper +cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +V. _META HOLDENIS_. A Novel. From the French of Victor Cherbuliez. +Paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +VI. _ROMANCES OF THE EAST_. From the French of Comte de Gobineau. Paper +cover, 60 cents; cloth, $1.00. + +VII. _RENEE AND FRANZ_ (Le Bleuet). From the French of Gustave Haller. +Paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +VIII. _MADAME GOSSELIN_. From the French of Louis Ulbach. Paper cover, +60 cents; cloth, $1.00. + +IX. _THE GODSON OF A MARQUIS_. From the French of André Theuriet. Paper +cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +X. _ARIADNE_. From the French of Henry Greville. Paper cover, 50 cents; +cloth, 75 cents. + +XI. _SAFAR-HADGI_; or, Russ and Turcoman. From the French of Prince +Lubomirski. Paper cover, 60 cents; cloth, $1.00. + +XII. _IN PARADISE_. From the German of Paul Heyse. 2 vols. Per vol., +paper cover, 60 cents; doth, $1.00. + +XIII. _REMORSE_. A Novel. From the French of Th. Bentzon. Paper cover, +50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +XIV. _JEAN TETEROL'S IDEA_. A Novel. From the French of Victor +Cherbuliez. Paper cover, 60 cents; doth, $1.00. + +XV. _TALES FROM THE GERMAN OF PAUL HEYSE_. Paper cover, 60 cents; +cloth, $1.00. + +XVI. _THE DIARY OF A WOMAN_. From the French of Octave Feuillet. Paper +cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + + + + + + + IN + + PARADISE + + _A NOVEL_ + + + FROM THE GERMAN OF + PAUL HEYSE + + + + VOL. II + + + + NEW YORK + D. APPLETON AND COMPANY + 549 AND 551 BROADWAY + 1879 + + + + + + + + COPYRIGHT BY + D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, + 1878. + + + + + + IN PARADISE. + + + + + + _BOOK IV_. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +A mile or two from Starnberg, on the shore of the beautiful lake, +stands a plain country-house, whose chief ornament is a shady and +rather wild little park of beeches and cedars. This stretches from the +highway that connects Starnberg with the castle and fishermen's huts of +Possenhofen, down to the lake--a narrow strip of woodland, separated +only by picket fences from the neighboring gardens, so that a person +wandering about in it is scarcely aware of its boundaries. The +house itself is equally small and simple, and contains, besides one +good-sized apartment, with several sleeping-rooms to the right and +left, only a turret-room in the upper story, whose great north window +shows at the first glance that it is a studio. From it can be seen, +over the tops of the cedars, a bit of the lake, and beyond it the white +houses and villas of Starnberg, at the foot of the height from +whose summit the old ducal castle--now converted into a provincial +court-house--rises like a clumsy, blunt-cornered box. + +Some years before, a landscape painter had built this modest summer +nest, and had made his studies of cloud and atmosphere from this turret +window. When he died, childless, his widow had made haste to offer the +property to the one among her husband's acquaintances who passed for a +Cr[oe]sus; thus it was that the villa came into the possession of +Edward Rossel, to the great surprise and amusement of all his friends. +For our Fat Rossel was known as an incorrigible and fanatical despiser +of country life, who was never tired of ridiculing the passion of the +Munichers for going into the mountains for refreshment in summer, and +who preferred, even in the hottest weather, when none of his friends +could hold out in the city any longer, to do without society altogether +rather than to give up the comforts of his city home even for a few +weeks. + +He maintained that this sentimental staring at a mountain or woodland +landscape, this going into ecstasies over a green meadow or a bleak +snow-field, this adoration of the rosy tints of sunrise and sunset, and +all the other species of modern nature-worship, were nothing more or +less than a disguised form of commonplace, thoughtless indolence, and +as such certainly not to be condemned, particularly by so zealous a +defender of _dolce far niente_ as himself. But they must not suppose +that this particular form of idleness was the highest and worthiest of +human conditions; at the best the benefit which the mind and soul +derived from it was not greater than if one should look over a book of +pictures, or listen for hours to dance-music. Let them drivel as much +as they liked about the sublimity, beauty, and poetry of Nature, she is +and remains merely the scenery, and the stage of this world first +begins to repay the price of admission when human figures make their +appearance upon it. He did not envy the simplicity of a man who would +be willing to sit in the parquet all the evening, staring at the empty +scene, studying the woodland or mountain decorations, and listening to +the voice of the orchestra. + +To this the enthusiastic admirers of Nature always responded: It was +well known that his ill-will toward Nature arose from the fact that no +provision had been made for a comfortable sofa and a French cook at all +the beautiful spots. He never made the slightest attempt to defend +himself against these hits, but, on the contrary, he maintained in all +seriousness, and with much ingenuity, his argument that a thinking +being could derive more enjoyment of Nature, and a deeper insight into +the greatness and splendor of the creation, from a _pâte de foie gras_ +than from watching a sunrise on the Rigi, with sleepy eyes, empty +stomach, and half-frozen limbs enveloped in a ridiculous blanket--a +melancholy victim, like his neighbors, to Alpine insanity. Whereupon he +would cite the ancient races who had never known such an exaggerated +estimate of landscape Nature, and yet, for all that, had possessed the +five senses in enviable purity and perfection, and had been very +intellectual besides. It is true, they had not known the celebrated +"Germanic sentiment;" but there was every probability that the decline +of the arts dated from the uprisal and spread of this epidemic, for +which reason it was particularly out of place for artists to favor this +sort of _Berghuberei_ (as the Munichers call the country fever), with +the exception, of course, of those who get their living by it--the +landscape, animal, and peasant painters--a degenerate race of whom Fat +Rossel never spoke without drawing down the corners of his mouth. + +But much as he liked to disparage German sentiment, he could not find +it in his heart to refuse the widow of the landscape-painter when she +offered him the house on the lake for a price that could hardly be +called low. Without any further inspection of the place he concluded +the bargain, and, without changing a muscle, quietly suffered the +malicious laughter which burst upon him from all sides to die out. "To +possess something," he said, calmly, "was not at all the same thing as +to be possessed by something." For that reason he would not need to +join in their raving, merely because he found himself among people who +were crazy and enraptured. And, true to his theory, whenever he was at +his villa he pursued his usual comfortable sybarite life, and +maintained that Nature had very great charms if one only looked at it +with one's back. + +He had had the house, which was built in a rustic style, most +comfortably fitted up, with a great variety of sofas, rugs, and +easy-chairs, and always had this or that friend with him as a guest; so +that even the studio above the tree-tops, in which he himself never set +foot, was not altogether lost to its proper use. Heavenly repose, he +used to say, would not be nearly as sublime if there were not mortals +in the world to bestir themselves and cultivate the field of art with +the sweat of their brows. + +Now, this year he had taken his æsthetical opposite, good Philip +Emanuel Kohle, out with him; had quartered him in the chamber to the +left of the little dining-room--he himself occupying the one on the +right--and it is almost unnecessary to add, had given him the exclusive +use of the studio. For the rest, they only met at dinner and supper, +since the morning slumbers of the host lasted too long for the +industrious guest to wait breakfast for him. Moreover, they could never +come together without getting into some discussion, which was always +welcome to Rossel, and, as he asserted, highly favorable to his +digestion at any time of the day except in the morning. The more he saw +of him the more pleasure Rossel took in this singular, self-communing +man, who, bloodless, insignificant-looking, and unsophisticated as he +seemed, bore about with him a truly royal self-respect, and the +consciousness of immeasurable joys and possessions, without for a +moment demanding that any mortal being should acknowledge his inherent +sovereign rights. + +Then, too, though he was so unassuming and so thankful for proffered +friendship, he conducted himself toward his host with perfect freedom, +for he held the most sublime doctrines in regard to the earthly goods +that were lacking in his own case, but were so richly at the disposal +of his friend. + +A little veranda, with a roof supported on wooden pillars and overgrown +with wild grape-vines, had been built out into the lake. A table and a +few garden-chairs stood upon it, and from it one could look far away +over the beautiful, unruffled water and the distant mountains. At night +it was delicious to lean over the balustrade and see the moon and stars +dancing in the waves. The nights were still warm, and the scent of the +roses was wafted over from the garden; on a day like this one could sit +in the open air until midnight. + +Fat Rossel had seated himself in an American rocking-chair, with his +back toward the lake; a narghili stood by his side, and on the table, +in a cooler, was a bottle of Rhine wine, from which he filled his own +and his friend's glass from time to time. Kohle sat opposite him, his +elbows resting on the table, his shabby black hat pulled down over his +forehead, from beneath which his eyes gleamed fixedly and earnestly out +of the shadow like those of some night-bird. They appeared to be +magically attracted by the lines of silver that furrowed the lake, and +it was only when he spoke that he slowly raised them to the level of +his friend's high, white forehead, from which the fez was pushed back. +Rossel wore his Persian dressing gown, and his silky black beard hung +picturesquely down upon his breast. Even in the moonlight Kohle looked +very shabby in comparison with him, like a dervish by the side of an +emir. The truth was, Kohle had but one coat for all times of the day +and year. + +"You may say what you like, my dear friend," said Fat Rossel, +concluding a rather long dispute about the difference in character +between the North and South Germans--he himself was from Passau and +Kohle from Erfurth--"there is one talent you people on the other side +of the Main are lacking in; you can swim excellently, but you can't lie +on your back and let yourself drift. Didn't I drag you put here to this +tiresome summer retreat because your aspect had become positively +unbearable to a flesh-painter, your skin having dried to a respectable +parchment, and you standing in danger of composing yourself into an +early grave? And now you don't do anything better out here; but consume +one yard of paper after another, while the shadows in your face grow +blacker from day to day. Why are you in such haste, my dear Kohle, to +produce things for which no one in the world is waiting?" + +Kohle's pale face never moved a muscle. He slowly drank a few drops of +wine from his glass, and then said, calmly: + +"Forbid the silkworm to spin!" + +"You forget, my dear godfather, that the worm you cite as your model +has at least the excuse that it spins silk. If you could get so far as +to do that, the thing would have a practical purpose. But your +spinning--" + +"Now you are talking again against your better convictions," +interrupted the other, coolly, "There are more than enough people +nowadays who pursue their so-called art for a practical purpose. Just +listen once when our colleagues talk about their 'interests.' One would +imagine he was at the Bourse: for this picture, five thousand gulden; +for that, ten thousand, or even twenty and twenty-five thousand; and +that a certain artist has an annual income of so and so much, and owns +several houses besides--these things make up the motive power of an +incredible number of them. Their pictures have no longer a value, but +merely a price. How to go to work and make an equal amount from the +fabrication of painted canvas, that is the pivot on which all the labor +of an artist's fancy turns, instead of steering straight for the thing +itself, as it ought by rights to do. Well, I have nothing in common +with this worm that nourishes itself by crawling about in the dust. But +what does it matter to me whether I spin silk, or only a plain thread +that delights me alone, and from which I can beat my wings and soar +away into space?" + +"You are a thousand times too good for this century of banks and +bourses, my dear enthusiast!" cried Rossel, with a sigh of honest +admiration. "But, even though you despise the golden fruit on the tree +of life, still all sorts of other things flourish there, which even the +best of men need not be ashamed to find beautiful and desireable: for +instance, fame or love, upon which you also turn your back with sublime +contempt. Your life is quite as earnest as your art, and yet you know +what Schiller says. If you go on in this way a few years longer, your +flame of life will have consumed all its wick; and the magic-lantern +pictures which the light has thrown on the dark background of your +existence will go down with you into eternal night." + +"No!" cried the other, and his yellow face lit up with a red flush. "I +do not feel this fear! _Non omnis moriar!_ Something of me will be left +behind; and though you may be right that no glory will come to me +during my life, a soft shimmer of posthumous fame will warm my bones +under the ground, of that I am certain. For better times are coming, or +else may God take pity on this wretched world, and dash it to pieces +before it becomes one vast dung-heap from which no living flower will +spring. Many a day when I have begun to lose faith, amid the +wretchedness of the present, I have repeated to myself those comforting +verses of Hölderlin's about the future of mankind." + +"Now don't bring in your Hölderlin as a bondsman for yourself," cried +Rossel. "To be sure, he was just as unpractical and as little suited to +the times as you; and, moreover, one of those erratic fellows who have +strayed out of the grand Greek and heathen worlds, and lost themselves +in our shallow present--an artist for art's sake, a dreamer and +ghost-seer in broad daylight. But for all that, he knew very well what +makes life worth living; and though he despised gold, and did not run +after fame very eagerly, he took love so seriously that he even lost +his reason over it. But you, my dear Philip Emanuel--" + +"Are you so certain that I am not on the straight road to it?" Kohle +interrupted, with a peculiar, half-shy, half-bashful smile. "It is +true, neither this nor that particular beautiful woman has caused me to +tremble for the little sense I possess. But the woman and the beauty +which I, being what I am--" + +He broke off, and turned round in his chair, so as to present only his +profile to his friend. + +"I don't understand you, godfather." + +"The thing is simple enough, I have never found a beautiful woman who +claimed so little of a suitor as to be willing to take up with my +insignificant self; that is to say--for I despise alms--who could +seriously be satisfied with this drab-tinted sketch of a human figure +that bears my name. And as I am too ignorant of the art of making the +best of it, and seeking out a sweetheart who shall be suited to me in +all ways and shall bear the stamp of the same manufactory, I stand but +a poor chance so far as love is concerned. You will laugh at me, +Rossel, but, in solemn earnest, the Venus of Milo would not be +beautiful enough for me." + +A short pause ensued. Then Rossel said: "If I understand you rightly, I +must confess that I don't understand you at all. Besides, your estimate +of woman is quite wrong. What you want is a husband; some one who shall +show you that she is lord and master, and not a mere puppet. Put aside +both your humility and your arrogance, and pitch in whenever you +stumble upon a cheerful life. However, do just as you see fit. Who +knows but what some time the Venus of Milo herself will take pity on +you for having passed over all lesser women-folk in order to wait for +the goddess?" + +"And what if she has already appeared to me, ay, has visited me day by +day up there above the tree-tops?" said Kohle, with a mysterious smile. + +He pointed with his hand toward the studio, whose window sparkled +softly in the starlight. + +Rossel stared at him in amazement. + +"You fear I am on the point of breaking into a divine frenzy," laughed +the little man. "But I haven't yet confounded dreams and reality. That +I have seen her, and have learned from her all sorts of things that +other mortals do not yet know, is certain. But I believe myself that I +only dreamed all this. It was on my very first morning out here. The +evening before I had been reading the _Last Centaur_. The birds woke me +very early, and then I lay for a few hours with closed eyes, and the +whole story passed before me in a continuous train." + +"What story?" + +"I am now at work sketching it, after my own fashion, against which you +will protest again. There is a cyclus of six or eight pictures--shall I +tell you the story just as I am building it up in outline? It ought +properly to be told in verse, but I am no poet. Enough, the scene opens +with a mountain-cliff somewhere or other, the Hoesselberg, let us say, +or any other mythological fastness in which a goddess could have lived +apart from the world for a few centuries. From out it steps our dear +Venus of Milo in proper person, leading by the hand a half-grown boy, +who is no less a person than the little Amor. They are both but +scantily clad, and gaze around with wondering eyes upon a world that +has greatly changed since last they saw it. A city lies before them, +with battlements and towers of strange shape standing out against the +sky. Horsemen and pedestrians are coming out of the gate, dressed in +bright-colored garments of a peculiar cut, which were nowhere in +fashion in the world when the old gods were worshiped. The sky is +clouded over, and a drizzling rain is gently falling, which forces the +lady and her little boy to seek another place of refuge, since they can +no longer find their way back to their old retreat. Yet they lack the +courage to enter the town, with its swarming mass of human beings. But +in the mountain over across the valley stands a high stone building, +from which a tower, with a beautiful chime of bells, seems to ring out +over the land an invitation for all men to draw near. It is true, this +cannot be expressed in the sketch, but then the cloister over on the +hill must have something homelike about it, so that everybody will +understand why the fugitives, standing below in the rain, under shelter +of a laurel bush, are gazing up at it with longing eyes. And now, +when the sun breaks forth again, they muster up their courage and knock +at the cloister gate. The nuns rush out at the cry their sister +gate-keeper utters when she sees this queenly woman, with the +black-eyed child of the gods, standing on the threshold, both half +naked, and with their blonde hair falling about their shoulders. Then, +too, as is natural, the nun understands no Greek, which would have +enabled her to interpret the stranger's request for hospitality; nor +can the abbess herself make out anything more as to the strangers' +origin and character. But of one thing she is certain--this is not a +strolling beggar of the usual sort. Thus, in the third picture, we see +Madame Venus sitting in the refectory seeking to still her hunger; but +the food is too coarse for her, and she tastes nothing but the cloister +wine. They offer her a coarse, woolen nun's-dress, which, however, she +scorns to wear. The only other dress they have on hand is the thin gown +belonging to a beggar who died in the cloister a short time before. +This she consents to put on; and although, here and there, her +beautiful white skin peeps through a tear in the old rags, she seems to +think this better than to be confined in the black shroud of the +sisters. Her little boy has also been provided with a shirt, and is now +being passed around from hand to hand, and lap to lap; for each of the +nuns is eager to caress him. While they are sitting thus, on the best +of terms, the priest of the place comes to have a talk with the abbess. +He suspects something wrong, and stands on the threshold, dumb with +amazement, and devours this strange beggar-woman with his eyes. But the +little rascal of a boy goes up to him, and succeeds in making his +reverence fall over head and ears in love with the strange lady, and +scatter his older sentiments for the abbess to the four winds. A fourth +sheet shows him as he strolls up and down the little cloister garden +with Madame Venus, passionately declaring his love. At the window +stands the pious mother of the convent, torn with jealousy; and it +requires little imagination to foresee that her ecclesiastical friend +has hardly turned his back before this dangerous guest is, under one +pretext or another, thrust rudely forth into the wide world again, with +her little boy--who is tired, and would have liked to sleep instead of +having to wander about in the stormy night. But a house or hut is +nowhere to be found, while, on the other hand, suspicious-looking +groups pass by them: gypsies, who cast covetous eyes at the beautiful +child; and one of them--a wicked, toothless old hag--actually catches +him by the skirts of his little gown. But, fortunately, he glides out +of her hands like an eel, and flies into the thicket, and his mother +after him: who is so lost in thought that she scarcely heeds the +danger. 'Where can all the others have gone?' is the question over +which she broods ceaselessly. + +"I don't know yet, myself, whether I shall show any more of her +adventures by the way. Every day something new occurs to me, with which +I might illustrate, both humorously and seriously, how, homeless and an +outcast, this beauty had to beg her way through this sober world of +ours. But, whenever she appeared at the door of simple and natural +beings, she needed to utter no word, and not even to stretch out her +hand. She touched the hearts of all; and every one--though here and +there with a secret shudder--gave her from his poverty as much +as he could spare. Young people, upon whom she had bestowed but a +single glance, left house, and home, and calling, and wandered after +her--through populous regions as well as through the wilderness--until, +in their dreamy blindness, they fell over steep precipices, or into +raging torrents, or came to an untimely end in one way or another. But +she herself, growing sadder and sadder, wandered along her way, and +thought of the times when the mortals who beheld her grew blissful and +happy and not wretched, and when they gave banquets in her honor, and +laid the most beautiful gifts at her feet; then she was a goddess, with +a train of followers whose numbers were incalculable. + +"Brooding in this way, she comes one evening to a celebrated pilgrims' +chapel, lying in a charming little valley, and shaded on all sides by +evergreen trees; and it is so late that no one observes her as she +enters into the empty sanctuary with her boy--who is weary, and whose +feet are sore--still holding fast to the skirts of her beggar's gown. + +"Only the eternal lamp is still burning before the altar, but the moon +shines through the arched windows, and it is as bright as day within. +The godlike woman sees a brown, wooden, life-sized figure seated on a +high throne. Two glass eyes glare upon her, and on the head flames a +golden crown; a mantle of red velvet falls about the angular shoulders, +and on her knees lies a wax child in swaddling clothes. She approaches +quite near, and touches the mantle, and plucks at the heavy folds; +whereupon the clasp on the neck of the image becomes unfastened, and +the lean, wooden body appears, looking ghastly enough. A shudder creeps +over the beautiful woman as she sees this image before her in all its +lean, worm-eaten ugliness. 'Ah!' she thinks to herself, 'this +princess's mantle will become me better than it does that old piece of +carving!' and begins to wrap herself in its heavy folds, which give +forth an odor of incense; and then she sets the crown on her head, and +asks her boy whether she pleases him. But he only blinks at her a +little, for he is tired to death. Then she takes pity on the poor +child, lifts the image from its gilded throne, and the wax infant rolls +to the ground and is dashed to pieces. She does not heed this, however, +but mounts the steps and seats herself in the chair under the canopy, +and the little Amor nestles warm in her lap, and, half covered by the +velvet mantle, falls asleep on her heavenly bosom. All around her it is +still; no sound is heard but the whirr of the bats as they fly hither +and thither under the high dome, not daring to light on the crown of +the stranger as they were accustomed to do upon the wooden image, being +frightened away by the brightness of her eyes; until at last the eyes +close, and the mother and son sleep quietly on their throne above the +altar. + +"In the early morning, even before the pilgrims who are encamped all +about the chapel have awakened, a young man comes along the road, +and, thinking no evil, enters the open portal, through which the gray +light of morning has just begun to steal. He has often seen the +wonder-working image that was worshiped here, but has never found that +it exerted any particular power upon himself. And now he merely goes in +and kneels down in a corner to let his heart commune with its God. But +as his eyes roam absently about the chapel they encounter the divine +apparition on the altar, sending a shock full of bliss and longing, +adoration and rapture, to the very depths of his heart. Just at this +moment the divine woman opens her eyes, makes a movement--which also +wakes the boy--and has to think a little before she can remember where +she is and how she came there. Her look falls upon the youth, who +stands there gazing up at her, looking so handsome and earnest, and as +if he were turned into a statue. She smiles graciously upon him, and +moves her hand in token of greeting. Then a holy dread overcomes him, +so that he flies from the chapel, and it is only when he is alone in +the solitary wood that he recalls what he has seen, and realizes what a +miracle has been revealed to him. And immediately the yearning comes +back to him. Like a drunken man he staggers back to the chapel, where +he finds the pilgrims already at their first mass. But the marvelously +beautiful lady with the boy has vanished; the wooden Madonna is again +enthroned under the baldachuin, and even a wax child lies upon her lap, +for the priests have supplied the place of the broken one by another. +Everything is in its old place, only the crown sits a little aslant on +the brown, wooden head, for the sacristan has not succeeded in +repairing the mysterious destruction any better. But the youth turns +his steps homeward, and bears about with him, through his whole life, +the after-glow of this wonderful apparition; striving always to +represent, to his fellowmen who had not beheld it with their own eyes, +how she had looked upon him--at first earnestly and dreamily, and then +with a winning smile--and how the boy, with his wondering gaze, had +illuminated everything about him, as if with balls of fire. And in his +efforts to do this--for he was an artist--he has attained to greater +and greater power and influence over his fellow-men, and each time has +succeeded better in catching the face; and that is the secret which can +be found in no history of art--the reason why this young Raphael has +become the greatest of all painters, and his picture of the Madonna +surpasses all others in beauty and in power." + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + +"By all the good spirits, but you are a poet!" cried Rossel, and he +sprang up with so unusual an alacrity that his red fez slipped off his +head. + +"A poet!" responded his modest friend, with a sad smile. "There, you +see how low we have sunken nowadays. If it ever occurs to one of us to +let any idea enter his head that goes beyond a whistling shoemaker's +apprentice, or some celebrated historical event, or a bathing nymph, he +must immediately hear himself scouted as a poet. Those old fellows like +Dürer, Holbein, Mantegna, and the rest, were left unmolested to spin +into fables whatever struck them as beautiful or odd. But, nowadays, +the doctrine of the division of labor is the panacea for all things; +and if a poor fool of a painter or draughtsman works out for himself +anything which a poet could by any possibility put into verse, people +immediately come running up with Lessing's 'Laokoön'--which, by the +way, no one thinks of reading nowadays--and prove that in this case all +bounds have been overstepped. If a poor devil of an artist has a fancy +for poetry, why doesn't he go to work and illustrate? After all, it is +a trade that supports its man, and one who follows it can be a +thorough-going realist, and can easily guard himself against all danger +of infection from poetry. But an arrogant wight of an idealist, whom +the world refuses to keep warm, and who, therefore, must take care not +to let the sacred fire go out on the hearth of his art--" + +"You are getting warm without cause, my dear Kohle!" interposed the +other. "Good heavens! it is indeed a breadless art, that of the poet, +but a deadly sin it certainly is not; and I, for my part, could almost +envy you for having such ideas as those you have just been telling me. +I'll tell you what--finish your plans, and then we will both of us +paint this beautiful story of Dame Venus inside there on the wall of +our dining-room. The devil must be in it, if we don't succeed in +producing something that will throw the Casa Bartoldi deep into the +shade." + +He knew when he said this what a great proposal he had let fall upon +the listening soul of his friend. + +Kohle, like all art apostles of his stamp, despised easel and oil +painting, as it is usually practised. On the other hand, the great aim +of his longing and ambition was to be able, just for once, to wield his +fresco brush to his heart's content on a wall a hundred feet long; and +his friends were fond of plaguing him about a wish that had once +escaped him--"My life for a bare wall!" Heretofore no one had been +willing to entrust him with a square yard of his house, or even of his +garden, for this purpose. And now, suddenly, he had only to put forth +his hand, and see his greatest desire for monumental art-creation +fulfilled. + +At first he could not believe in such overwhelming good-fortune. But +when the look of glad surprise and trembling doubt which he cast upon +his host encountered a perfectly serious face, he could no longer hold +himself in his chair. He sprang to his feet, threw his shabby black hat +high into the air, and, with outstretched arms and glowing face, +prepared to throw himself upon his friend, who was slowly strolling +back and forth. "Brother!" he cried, in a half-stifled voice, "this-- +this--" But Rossel suddenly stood still and made a motion with his +hand, which checked the enthusiast in the very height of his wild +excitement. + +The remembrance of a similar moment, when his heart had overflowed +toward his friend, and he had been upon the verge of formally offering +him "good-comradeship," came back to him with a rude shock. Then the +word had not yet passed his lips, when Rossel, at the very same moment, +though apparently without intention, had begun to speak of his aversion +to the display of tenderness among men, and had frightened away this +outburst of brotherly affection. And could it be that even now the ice +was not to be broken between them, and that this fulfillment of the +dearest wish of his life was nothing but the favor of a gracious +patron, a whim on the part of the rich host toward the poor devil who +sat at his hospitable table? His proud, sensitive soul was just on the +point of revolting against this, when from afar off a sound struck upon +his ear, which, as he instantly perceived, had been heard by Edward +sooner than by him, and which had been the cause of his gesture of +repulse. The soft notes of a flute came wafted to them over the lake, +nearer and nearer to the spot on the bank where Rossel's villa stood. + +"It is he!" said Rossel. "Even the peace of night is not so sacred as +to guard defenseless beings from the attacks of this romantic amateur. +Look here, Kohle, see how the boat is just floating out of the shadow +into the silvery path of the moon--Rosebud stands erect in the centre, +like Lohengrin; and that tall figure at the tiller is undoubtedly +Elfinger's high-mightiness--they are making straight for our +balcony--well, let the will of the gods be done!" + +The notes of the flute died away in a melting trill, and immediately +afterward Rosenbusch sprang ashore. "_Salem aleikum!_" he cried, waving +his hat. "We make our attack from the side of the lake, obeying +necessity and not our own desire, for a mouse-hole where two travelers +might lay their heads for the night couldn't be had in Starnberg for +all the gold of California. Saturday and this beautiful weather have +lured half Munich out there. I immediately thought of you, old boy, and +told Elfinger, who thought it would be presumptuous for us to force +ourselves on you without a special invitation, that, in addition to all +sorts of oriental qualities which are hateful to me, you also possessed +three most estimable ones--namely, a number of superfluous divans, +excellent coffee, and a spirit of hospitality worthy of a Bedouin. +Consequently, that, unless your shady roof chanced to be sheltering a +few odalisques who had already taken possession of all the couches, you +would not turn us away from your threshold. At the worst, it won't be +any great misfortune to two jolly juveniles like ourselves to pass a +night, just for once, on the floor of a fishing-boat. + + 'Upon the laughing wave below, + The stars are mirrored bright; + The mighty heights that frown around + Drink in the mists of night,'" + +he sang, to an air of his own composing, his eyes turned upon the +mountains that lay hazy in the distance. + +"You are welcome to my poor roof," responded Rossel, with gravity, +cordially shaking hands with the actor, whom he greatly esteemed, and +whose modesty caused him to hang back a little. "All the divans I +possess stand at your service; and of blankets, too, there is no lack. +I only hope, for your sake, that you have already satisfied the grosser +wants of the body. Our daily supply of provisions is exhausted, and +there is no attendant spirit at hand whom I could send to the neighbors +in quest of aid. I have only old Katie out here, and she--" + +"Does she still live, that venerable virgin with the silver locks, who +thinks how she might have had children, and grandchildren, and shakes +her head?" cried the battle-painter. "Come, Elfinger, it behooves us to +go and offer our homage to the lady and mistress of the house." + +"You will have to curb your impatience until morning, my dear Rosebud; +the old woman has taken it into her head to relieve the loneliness of +the long winter out here on the lake by making _Enzian schnapps_, and +diligently devotes herself the whole summer long to the consumption of +her own manufacture, so that she is good for nothing after eight +o'clock. The most tender flute-serenade would not wake her from her +deathlike Enzian sleep. Were it not that she is reasonably sober during +the day, is a good cook, and is as faithful as an old dog, I would have +sent her to the hospital long ago." + +In the mean time, Rosenbusch had paid off and sent away the boatman, +whom he never spoke of except as the "Fergen," and now rushed up the +steps to the balcony, where, with a merry jodel he threw himself into a +chair, and drank the health of the others from Kohle's half-filled +glass. + + "'Well for the rich and happy house, + That counts such gift but small!'" + +he cried. "Long life to you, dear _Westöstlicher_. Truly, Rossel, there +are moments when I acknowledge and honor the old proverb, 'Wisdom is +good, especially with an inheritance.' If I could call a spot of earth +like this mine, I myself would try to be as wise as you, and no longer +assist at the decline of modern art. But no; after all, I couldn't +stand doing nothing but feeding my white-mice and giving myself up to +intellectual laziness. However, enough of this. Out here is truce and +neutral territory, and I know what I owe to hospitality." + +"Since you began it yourself," said Rossel, with a smile, "I have a +single favor to ask of you. I have a number of song-birds in my garden, +and I am afraid you will drive them from me if you give a loose rein to +your baleful passion for music. They will acknowledge your superior +genius, and shrink from competition. If you positively must play, row +out upon the lake. There is a southwest wind which will waft the +strains across to the castle over opposite, where they will do no +harm." + +"So be it," responded the battle-painter, with great seriousness; +"though, in any case, we shan't burden you with our presence very long. +For, to-morrow--" He broke off, for Elfinger gave him a warning look. +In the meanwhile, Kohle had hastened down into the cellar, and now +returned with a few slim bottles and the wine-cooler, which he had +filled afresh with ice. + +He had not yet spoken a word; but his whole face beamed with an inner +content such as he seldom exhibited. The thought of the bare walls +inspired him as the happiness of a secret love does others. Meantime, +Elfinger had descended again to the bank, from which a little path led +to a bathing-house. Soon his friends who had remained behind saw him +swim out into the lake, his black, curly bead rising out of the silver +path of the moonlight, "like the head of the Baptist on Herodias's +charger," said Koble. "Except that he feels himself much better off +than that poor devil," remarked Rosenbusch, who was comfortably +drinking and smoking. "You must know that we wouldn't have had the +absurd idea of making a pilgrimage out here on Saturday evening, in +company with the whole population of Munich, had not our sweethearts +shown us the way. Papa Glovemaker has permitted them to visit a Frau +godmother, who is staying in Starnberg for the summer. We had no sooner +gotten wind of this, through a trusty go-between, than we very +naturally made up our minds that we could find no better place to spend +to-morrow than here. Of course, we have taken care to make arrangements +for meeting to-morrow. We are going to take you with us as guard of +honor, Philip Emanuel. It is to be hoped you have no objections to the +plan?" + +"Not the slightest," responded Koble, good-naturedly. "Of course, the +Frau godmother will fall to my share." + +"And how about Elfinger's sweetheart? Is that little bride of heaven +also in the conspiracy?" asked Fat Rossel, who was sitting in his +rocking-chair again. + +"Nothing certain is known about that; but, at all events, our friend +builds great hopes upon this favor of fortune, which will permit him, +for the first time, to pass several hours in the company of his +darling. Only think; we also succeeded, a short time since, in finding +out what it really is that has disgusted the good child with the world, +and that is driving her into the convent by main force." + +He cast a look upon the lake, as though he were measuring the distance +between the balcony where they sat and the swimmer in the water. + +"If you will keep close about it, I will tell you the secret," he +continued, in a low voice. "After all, it only does honor to the poor +girl that she wants to take the sins of others on her own shoulders, +and do penance for them all her life long. Papa Glove-maker, you must +know, appears to have been by no means such a very long-faced character +in his youth, but, on the contrary, to have led a pretty wild life, and +to have been mixed up in scrapes that were not always of a particularly +edifying nature. However, he married young, and soon after this event +there came a mission of Jesuits to the city, or to some place in the +neighborhood--on this subject the records are silent--and the young +sinner, who had already had ample opportunity for repentance in his +marriage relations, allowed his conscience to be shaken to such an +extent by the priests that he suddenly took a fancy to retire almost +entirely from the world, neglected his business so that he almost +reduced himself to beggary, and practically separated himself from his +young wife. He had long lost her love, for which he did not seem to +care; but this was not the worst. Devoted to his vigils and penances, +he is said to have known of and condoned an intimacy which she soon +after formed with a young landscape-painter, who lived for a long time +in the house. The birth of a little girl, who was named Fanny, ended +this relation; but, even then, the friendship shown for the artist did +not at once cease. He stood as the child's godfather; and every year +afterward he continued, although he had removed from Munich, to make a +visit to the house on little Fanny's birthday. It was soon obvious, +however, that Herr Glove-maker's views had changed; that he viewed him +with less and less favor each time that he appeared; and that a crisis +was approaching. And so, on one of these birthdays, when the girl had +already begun to think for herself a little, there must have been a +scene between her three elders, which was overheard by the unfortunate +young creature. A sudden revelation came upon her, that terribly +darkened and shattered her innocent spirit, so that she grew +introspective and melancholy--and perhaps she had some spiritual +adviser who was always giving her new fancies, and painting the terrors +of the hereafter in stronger colors. Nanny, our informant says, knows +nothing of the whole horrible business; and Fanny used to be just such +another merry creature. If this melancholy idea did not so weigh upon +her--that she must do penance for the sins of her parents--she would be +as healthy, bright, and warm-blooded as her younger sister. Since +Elfinger has learned this family secret, he has gained new hopes of +turning this little bride of heaven back from the cloister. But it will +hardly succeed; and if he doesn't use heroic remedies--" + +He didn't finish his sentence; for just then his friend, refreshed by +his bath, came running up the steps; and now, with an obvious sense of +comfort, but with the rather quiet manners habitual to him, gave +himself up to the enjoyment of the wine. Kohle, too, spoke only in +monosyllables, so that Rosenbusch and Rossel had to bear the burden of +the conversation. Moreover, as the day had been hot, and as they all +really needed rest, the bottles were soon emptied, and the airy spot on +the bank of the lake deserted. + +Upon entering the house, Kohle's first care was to light the candles. +Then he dragged out two woolen blankets from a wardrobe, where all +sorts of things were stored. While occupied with this work he allowed +his eyes to wander stealthily and tenderly over the long wall of the +little room, as if he were measuring off and taking possession of the +site of his future deeds. Two low, well-stuffed divans stood against +these walls, an old table occupied the centre, and over it hung a +chandelier with polished brass branches. The broad glass door of the +hall opened upon the lake, and no sound penetrated into this airy room +but the gentle murmur of the splashing waves, and a soft snoring from +the chamber near the kitchen where old Katie had her bed. After all the +doors had been shut and locked, even this nocturnal music was heard no +longer. + +The two new guests had just stretched themselves out on their couches, +by way of experiment, and had wished their host good-night with a great +deal of laughter and joking, when they were roused again by a distant +ring at the park gate. Kohle hastily seized a light and ran out. Five +minutes after they heard him return; he was talking with some one whose +voice they none of them seemed to recognize. But, the moment they +entered, the three shouted as with one voice: + +"Our baron! And so late at night!" + +They had recognized Felix more from his figure and bearing than from +his features, though the light of the candle fell full upon his face; +for it looked wan and transformed as if by some severe illness. His +eyes, roaming restlessly about the room, had a piercing, feverish +glitter, so that his friends stormed him with questions as to whether +he was sick or had seen a ghost on his way through the wood. + +He gave a forced laugh, passed his hand across his cold forehead, on +which great beads of perspiration were standing, and declared that he +had never felt better in his life, and that he was as proof against +ghosts as the babe unborn. In spite of all this, there was something +constrained in all his movements, and his voice sounded hoarse and +unnatural, as it often does when a person is laboring under great +excitement. + +He told how he too had been unable to find quarters in Starnberg, and +had left the horse on which he had ridden out at the tavern, in order +to make the remaining half-hour's journey to Rossel's country-seat on +foot; and that, in trying to follow the rather confused directions +which had been given him, he had gone a good deal out of his way. It +was this that had reduced him to his present demoralized condition. But +he would not disturb them on any account, and only asked for a drop of +water and a corner where he could stretch himself out, for he was as +tired as a dog, and would be content even with a dog's kennel. + +He drained off a large glass of wine at a single swallow, then, with +averted face, shook hands with his friends and made a few forced +jokes--something he never thought of doing when he was quite himself. +He flatly refused to accept of Kohle's offer to give up his bed to him, +but gladly consented to be led into the studio, where, by the aid of a +few blankets, a deer-skin, and a shawl, they succeeded in transforming +an old garden-bench into a very respectable bed. Then, without even +waiting for the others who had escorted him up-stairs to leave the +room, he threw himself down upon the couch--"already half in the other +world," he tried to say, jestingly, as he nodded good-night to the +others. + +Shaking their heads, his friends left him. It was evident that this +late visit could be explained by no such innocent circumstances as had +occasioned that of the two who had preceded him. But, while they were +still standing outside the door exchanging remarks about Felix's +singular condition, they learned from the deep breathing within that +the object of their anxiety had fallen fast asleep. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + +The clear song of the birds awoke him while it was still in the gray of +the morning, and not a sound could be heard in the house below. + +The tops of the pine-trees, seen through the broad studio-window, +recalled to his mind where he was, and how and why he had strayed +thither. + +In the afternoon he had met the lieutenant, whom he had not seen before +for a week, although he had zealously frequented all the places where +Schnetz was generally to be found. He knew that Irene had left the city +with her uncle. In his dull consternation upon learning this in reply +to an indirect inquiry at the hotel, he had not even inquired in which +direction they had gone. She had fled from him, that he knew; his mere +silent presence sufficed to frighten her away, to make the town in +which he lived distasteful to her. Whither had she fled? To Italy, as +she had at first planned?--to the east or to the west? What did it +matter to him, since he dared not follow her? Nor did he really care to +make any inquiries of Schnetz, who undoubtedly knew all about it. And +yet he was eager to see the only human being who might possibly give +him news of her. And when at last he encountered him in the street, +after a day of depression and brooding, on which he had not even seen +Jansen and had neglected his work, his heart beat so fast and his face +flushed so deeply that it seemed as if his unsuspecting friend could +not help reading all his secret thoughts in his eyes. And it really did +so happen that the very first words which Schnetz ejaculated, in reply +to Felix's inquiry as to how he was, had reference to the fugitives. + +Things went wretchedly with him. He had hoped to be rid of his serfdom +and slavery to woman, now that his whimsical little princess had gone +off with her servile valet of an uncle! Vain idea! The chain which held +him now reached as far as Starnberg, and only an hour ago he had felt +himself jerked by it in anything but a gentle way. A note from the +uncle summoned him to come out in all haste on the following day. +Visits had been announced for Sunday from all manner of youthful _haute +volés_, noble cousins and their followers; but the old lion-hunter had +previously accepted an invitation to a shooting-match at Seefeld, which +it would be quite impossible for him to escape, and his niece, poor +child, who, for some reason or other, was daily growing paler and more +nervous in the country air, felt herself quite incapable of doing the +honors of the little villa without the assistance of a zealous and +active cavalier. Consequently, Schnetz was her last hope, and he could +assure him of Irene's kindest welcome, and of his own eternal gratitude +if he would come and be her knight! "You will readily understand, my +dear baron," concluded the grumbling cavalier, slapping his high boots +with his riding-whip, "that there are moral impossibilities which +prevent the slave from breaking his chain. But to the hundred times I +have already cursed this Algerian camp-friendship, I have added to-day +the one hundred and first. It is true, I certainly have a certain +curiosity to see how this 'kindest welcome' of her proud little +highness will seem. You know I have a secret weakness for this gracious +little tyrant of mine. But it is asking a great deal of me to expect +that I should bear with her whims and humors for a whole day. Pity me, +happy man! you who are free from all service, and receive no other +orders than those which come from the genius of art." + +His speech had been long enough for Felix to think of some appropriate +and sufficiently cheerful answer. + +"You are terribly mistaken, my dear friend," he said, "if you think I +wear no chain. Art, do you say? She is a gracious mistress to him alone +who has gotten so far as to be able to rule her while he serves her. +But, as for a wretched beginner and blunderer to whom she has not yet +given her little finger to kiss, no raftsman or woodsman in the +mountains groans under such a load. A thousand times I ask myself +whether it was not, after all, a piece of folly for me, at my time of +life, to join the scholars who are learning her first A B C; and +whether I shall not discover to my horror, after the lapse of many +weary years, that all this precious time has been thrown out of the +window of Jansen's studio. It is certainly large enough for such a +purpose." + +"Hm!" growled the tall lieutenant. "You are singing a bad song to an +old tune. Nowhere do you come across existences that are failures, more +frequently than in a city of art like this. It's so damned seductive to +go singing-- + + 'Free, ah, free, is the life we lead, + A life filled full of pleasure--' + +and yet, what you say is quite right--he who cannot rule art, him she +oppresses; and that to a worse degree than does any duty of life. You, +as I know you, don't seem to me quite in your proper place. Both of us +ought to have come into the world a few centuries earlier; and then I, +as a leader of bandits, after the manner of Castruccio Castracani, and +you, as a politician of the old energetic and unscrupulous stamp, +might not have cut a bad figure. But now, all we can do is to help +ourselves as best we can. Now let me tell you something. You have been +over-excited, and have lost your spirits. Come out to the lake with me +to-morrow. I will introduce you to her young highness. Perhaps you will +fall in love with her and find favor in her eyes, and then our little +princess and both of us would be made happy at one stroke." + +Felix shook his head with increasing embarrassment. "He was not the man +for such company," he said, in a stammering voice; "Schnetz would get +little honor by introducing him. He couldn't swear that he wouldn't go +out to the lake. He certainly did stand in great need of a change of +air. But, unfortunately, he could be of no use to him in entertaining +his countesses, baronesses, and young nobles." + +With these words they had shaken hands and parted. + +But no sooner did Felix find himself alone than his passionate grief +and his old yearning came upon him with such force that he threw all +his resolutions to the winds, and thought only how he could be near her +once more. The evening train did not leave for some hours. It would be +impossible to wait for it, or to pass the intervening time in any +civilized fashion. He hired a horse and mounted, dressed just as he +was, and left the town at a sharp trot, without giving notice at his +own house of his intended absence, or even taking leave of Jansen. + +His horse was none of the best, and was somewhat tired from having been +in use before that day. Consequently he was soon obliged to moderate +his speed, and had only accomplished half his journey, when the train +whirled by him. But he was not at all sorry to have to take the last +part of the way at a walk. The nearer he approached his goal, the more +conflicting became his feelings. What object had he in coming here at +all? He knew that she avoided him, and that she would unquestionably +leave this retreat too, if she should form but the slightest suspicion +that he was following her, and seeking an opportunity to meet her +again. And in what a light must he himself, his pride, his sense of +delicacy, appear to her, unless he carefully avoided even the +appearance of trying to intrude himself upon the peace that she had won +with such difficulty? If she could do without him, ought he to show how +painful it still was for him to do without her? + +He reined up his horse so sharply that the animal stood still, +trembling. All around him were solitary woods, and the road that ran by +the side of the railway was utterly deserted. He sprang off, threw the +reins over the horse's neck, and threw himself on his back at the side +of road, on the thick, dry moss, which sent out a cloud of fragrant +dust into the heated air. + +Here he lay; and if his manliness had not forbidden him, he would have +liked nothing better than to relieve himself by a flood of burning +tears, like a helpless, unhappy child, to whom some one has shown its +favorite plaything and then taken it away again. Instead of yielding to +such girlish weakness, he strengthened and stilled his rebellious heart +with that defiant spirit which is the man's form of this youthful +feebleness. He gnashed his teeth, cast threatening glances up at the +tree-tops and the blue dome of the sky, and behaved himself generally +in a way so boyish, and so unworthy of the great statesman that Schnetz +believed he had detected in him, that even his horse, hearing his wild, +disconnected words, and the strange gnashing and raving by which they +were accompanied, looked up in amazement from his grazing, and turned +his head toward his rider with an expression of silent pity. "Is it any +fault of mine," he raved to himself, "that a ridiculous accident has +brought her to the very spot where I was on the point of beginning a +new life? Must I fly before her, like a fool, the moment this absurd +fate brings her near me again? The world is surely large enough for us +both; and yet now, though she knows why I have pitched my tent in this +particular place, she persists in haunting the immediate neighborhood, +so that I can't take a step outside the gates without running the risk +of meeting her. What am I saying? Why, I do not dare even to go out to +the lake! I am to be cut off from light and air, and left to smother in +the Munich dust! In other words, I am to condemn myself to perpetual +imprisonment for a crime of which I do not even repent. No! I owe +something to myself as well. Why shouldn't I show that I have put the +whole affair behind me once for all, and go on living as though certain +eyes were no longer in the world? Cannot one person ignore another? +Shall it last forever, this fear of ghosts? As if one couldn't go +around a street corner without meeting a dead and buried love!"--he +sprang up suddenly, smoothed his hair, and brushed the dust from his +coat--"and though her eyes should look down upon me from every window +in Starnberg," he cried, "I will ride through the town and laugh at all +these apparitions!" + +So he swung himself into the saddle again, and rode over the few +remaining miles of his journey at a sharp trot. When at last a blue +strip of the lake sparkled through the tree-tops, and the houses of the +town came into view, a gray, starlit twilight had already settled down; +so that, after all, he could ride through the streets between the rows +of lighted windows, without any fear of being recognized. + +Nevertheless, it was almost a relief to him when, upon inquiry at all +of the three inns, he was told that no room could be had for the night. +He thought at once of Rossel's little country house, of which he had +often heard his friends speak. As the way was described to him, he +could still arrive there in good time, and before his friends had gone +to bed. So he contented himself with a hasty drink after his sultry +ride through the woods, handed over his animal to a hostler, who +promised to take good care of it, and got under way again. + +He had not had the heart to inquire for Irene's villa, though he had +thought for a moment of doing so--only that he might avoid it all the +more surely. But he did not allow her name to pass his lips. Clinching +his teeth, he went his way, past the garden fences and walls. The warm +night had enticed every living thing out into the open air. Under the +vines and in the summer-houses, on garden-benches and on balconies, old +and young sat, walked, and stood; and here and there one could hear the +clear but subdued sound of girlish laughter, as it suddenly burst forth +from whispered conversations or deep silence, like a rocket that starts +instantly from a humble fire-work into the dark heaven of night. Some +one was playing a cither, to which a man's voice sang a low +accompaniment; from another house a full soprano voice sang Schubert's +Erl King, to the loud music of a piano; and from yet another was heard +a violin concerto, with a clarionet _obbligato_. All harmonized as well +as the different voices of the birds in the woods, for the sounds were +softened and melted into one another by the sultry night air. +Involuntarily Felix stood still and listened. + +As chance would have it, his eyes rested on a little house from which +came no sound of song or music, and which was overhung with exquisite +roses, while tall hollyhocks nodded over the garden-fence. In the upper +story was a room with a balcony, lit by a hanging-lamp. The door stood +wide open, but the brightly-lighted apartment beyond seemed to be quite +empty. Of a sudden, just as the clarionet was playing a solo, a shadow +entered the bright frame made by the balcony door. A slender, womanly +figure stood on the threshold for a moment, then stepped out in full +view and leaned over the balustrade. Her features could not be clearly +distinguished from the street, and the watcher below still hesitated to +believe his beating heart. But now the shadow moved, and turned its +face toward the bright door, as if some one in the room had called to +it. For a minute or two the outline of a clear-cut profile could be +seen sharply defined against the background of light. It was she!--his +beating heart had known her sooner than his open eyes; and now it beat +all the more wildly as the apparition disappeared into the room again +as quickly as it had come. So this was the place! Now he knew it--now +he could mark the house well, so that he might always carefully avoid +it by a wide _détour_. He trembled all over, and his feet would not at +first obey him, when he tried to tear himself away and continue his +wandering. In his excitement he missed the road that runs along by the +lake, and followed the side-road leading to the Seven Springs. It was +only when he reached that spot, and found himself in the midst of a +swampy thicket, that he became aware of his mistake. Then, with the +stars for his guides, he began to search his way back again. But once +more he lost the right track; the sweat rolled down his forehead. With +laboring breast he forced his way through the thick underbrush; and, +panting like a wounded stag, succeeded in reaching a glade from which +he could see the railway, and over beyond it, through the tree-tops, +the broad surface of the lake, glittering in the moonlight. A signalman +whom he met put him upon his way again. He saw that he had already gone +far beyond his goal, and his anxiety lest he should disturb his friend +by coming to him at so late an hour, quickened his steps. Thus it was +that he reached Edward's in the state in which we have already seen +him. + +But the strength of his youth pulled him through all his troubles +overnight. He awoke in the morning with all his senses refreshed from +those bright dreams with which the soul, healing silently as her wont +is, had striven to restore her shaken balance. Nor did this bright +cheerfulness of the morning desert him when he was fully awake, and was +forced to admit that matters stood no better with him to-day than on +the day before. A feeling of courage made the blood course warmly +through his veins: a secret delight in life, and a quiet confidence +which he could not altogether destroy, and which was very different +from the boastful courage of the previous day. He opened the window and +stood for a long time breathings in the fresh fragrance of the firs. +Then he stepped before the easel, on which stood Kohle's cartoon +representing the first scene of his legend of Venus, a plan of which, +sketched in hasty outlines on a long roll of paper, lay near by. Felix +was enough of an artist to appreciate this singular conception, even +without an explanation; and, in his present romantic and excited state, +it attracted him wonderfully. He seated himself on the wooden stool +before the easel, and became absorbed in the contemplation of this +first sheet, which was now almost completed. The beautiful goddess, +leading her boy by the hand, had stepped half out of the shadow of a +wild and overgrown gorge, and was gazing wonderingly toward a city +which could be seen perched on a distant height, with Gothic +battlements and towers. A river, which wound around the base of the +hill, was spanned by a quaint old bridge, over which moved a long train +of merchants with heavily-laden wagons, accompanied by a few travelers. +A little further in the background was a shepherd-boy, stretched out on +the grass by the side of his flock, playing a reed pipe and gazing +dreamily up at the fleecy summer clouds. The figures were sharply and +almost harshly outlined, but there was a certain dignity in the whole, +that aided in heightening the fantastic charm of the conception, and +in holding the thoughts of the observer aloof from the realities of +every-day life. + +Felix was still lost--as if in a second morning dream--in the +contemplation of this fairy world, when he heard a cautious step creep +up the narrow stairway, and stop at his door. He cried "come in," and +could not help laughing when he caught sight of Kohle's honest face +peering in with an expression as if he feared to find a man in the last +stages of illness. Upon his informing his amazed friend that he was in +excellent health, and that the picture of the goddess had probably +worked this miracle, the artist's features lighted up, and he began, +bright morning as it was, to speak of his work in the same spirit of +high-strung enthusiasm in which he had fallen asleep the night before, +and to give his explanation of the sketches, which, when unrolled, +extended across the whole breadth of the studio. Then the fact that +Rossel had given him leave to make use of the walls of the dining-room, +and had even offered to assist in the painting, had to be communicated +to Felix. Then, at last, he told him about the others; how they had +risen long ago, and, without waiting for breakfast, had started off for +Starnberg--Rosenbusch on matters connected with their love affairs, +and in order to make arrangements for effecting a meeting in the +afternoon; while Elfinger, who was passionately fond of fishing, had +gone to a trout-brook near the Seven Springs, with whose owner he was +acquainted--for he insisted upon contributing his share to the day's +dinner. The master of the house himself never made his appearance +before nine or ten o'clock. He was in the habit of taking his +breakfast, and of smoking and reading, in bed; declaring that even then +the day was much too long for him not to shorten it by any legitimate +stratagem. + +But Kohle had not yet finished what he was saying when the stairs once +more began to creak, this time under a slower and more ponderous tread. +Contrary to his usual habit, Fat Rossel had turned out early, in order +to make inquiries concerning Felix's condition. He had not even taken +time to complete his toilet, but came in his dressing-gown, his bare +feet thrust into his slippers. He was perceptibly relieved when Felix, +looking fresh and bright again, advanced to meet him and shook his +hand, really touched that his anxious friend should have sacrificed his +comfort for his sake. + +"There are good fellows still left in this wretched world," he cried; +"and I should be a villain indeed to make their lives uncomfortable. It +is true, my friends, all within and about me is not just as it should +be. But whoever shall see me drawing down the corners of my mouth and +making a long face to-day, let him call me a Nazarene and break his +maulstick over my back." + +Rossel nodded his head thoughtfully at these words, for this sudden +change in the young man's mood did not appear quite natural to him; +however, he did not say a word, but seated himself on the stool before +the easel--having first laid a pillow on it--in order to study Kohle's +designs. + +"Hm--hm! So--so! Fine--fine!" were the only critical remarks which he +uttered for the space of a quarter of an hour. Then, however, he began +to go into details, and, as he did so, all the strange traits of his +nature came into view. + +For, just as his own fancy was inexhaustible in raising buds that never +bore fruit, so too, in regard to the works of others, he had gradually +lost the faculty of patiently following the slow maturing of a thought +in accordance with the inherent laws and quiet workings of Nature. For +young people especially he was dangerous, for he first excited them +powerfully, and led them in a perfect reel through a world of artistic +problems; and then, the moment they went to work in earnest upon a +particular task, his keenness and superior knowledge disgusted them +with the subject they had taken up, by demonstrating to them a variety +of other ways and methods in which the theme might be treated even more +happily. Then, if they decided to destroy what they had begun, and +begin anew according to one of the ways suggested, they found +themselves no better off than before, since the one decisive and final +solution always receded farther and farther into unattainable distance. +In this way they lost all disposition to strike out boldly and +energetically; became hair-splitters and theorists after the style of +their master; or, if they did not possess enough mind or money for +this, they gave themselves up in their desperation to mere mechanical +work, which they pursued in secret, taking good care never to knock +again at the door of their former oracle with a question about art. + +"There is no one who sees into a picture, or out of it again, as +quickly as Rossel," Jansen had once said, and Felix now had an +unusually good opportunity of observing the force of this remark, in +the manner in which Rossel examined Kohle's designs. For since, in this +case, the critic was himself to lend a helping hand, his fancy was even +more active than usual in rearranging what had been done, in order that +it might, as far as possible, appropriate the picture to itself. How +the light effect was to be arranged for every picture, what problems of +color would enter into the question, how Giorgione would probably have +composed the background, and what effect it would have if, for +instance, the whole first scene should be transposed from broad day +into evening twilight--all these questions were weighed in the most +serious fashion; while all the while the position of the figures, the +way in which the space was divided, and the landscape, were so +mercilessly changed about, that finally the new conception of the work +had scarcely anything in common with the original plan, except the mere +subject. + +Nor was even this last point to be regarded as definitely settled, but +was merely to be looked upon as a basis for further consideration. But, +while Kohle's face kept growing longer and more anxious, that of his +fellow-laborer beamed with growing satisfaction. Every muscle in it +quivered with intellectual life, and his black eyes flashed with +genuine enthusiasm from beneath his white forehead. When finally he +rose, he extended his arms above his head and cried: + +"There is nothing finer than a good work which has been taken hold of +at the right end. You shall see, Kohle--the thing will go. I take such +pleasure in it that I would begin to-day--at once, if it didn't happen +to be Sunday and I had not, before all things, to play the attentive +host. However, you will have quite enough to do in making the changes +in the cartoon. In the meanwhile I will assist my household dragon in +composing a bill of fare--a thing which will take more thought, let me +tell you, than even our dame Venus." + +As soon as he had gone the two looked at one another, and Felix could +not help bursting into a loud laugh, in which poor Kohle joined--at +least with a pathetic smile. + +"Now you see what comes of being too wise about anything," said he, +regarding his sketch with a sigh. "When, in my stupidity, I went +straight on following my _certa idea_, or even my nose, something +came of it at all events. But after these criticisms, which were, +by-the-way, all excellent and capital and appropriate, I am afraid the +whole thing will go to the deuce again! If it were not for the +beautiful wall down stairs I would tell him candidly that so ill-mated +a span--as ill-matched as an ox and horse--would never drag the plough +very far. Better to let the lean horse do the work alone, even though +the furrows should not be quite so smooth. Alas, alas, alas! My poor +dame Venus!" + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + +Nevertheless, the creative instinct was too powerful in him to let his +depression at the interference of this eternal waverer affect him long, +or sap his strength. In the very midst of his upbraiding, after he had +angrily thrown the first sheet into a corner, he took a second frame of +card-board, and began to sketch the scene where the homeless beauty, +with her naked boy, is standing at the gate of the convent, surrounded +by the staring nuns, whose looks and attitudes express doubt and +suspicion. Felix threw himself on his couch again, and lay smoking, +rarely throwing in a word, as he watched every movement of the other's +hand. The proximity of this man, who was self-reliant, so humble, and +yet so constantly striving at some lofty aim, exercised a singularly +soothing influence upon Felix's restless soul. He confessed this, when +Kohle began to express surprise that any one should leave the town, +head over heels in this way, and rush into the country, in order, when +he arrived there, to shut himself up in a sunless garret room, and look +on while a man painfully trundled his barrow over a hard road, toward a +goal of art which is generally supposed to have long since been left +behind. + +"My dear Kohle," he said, "only let me stay here. I should like very +much to learn something from you which would be of more benefit to me +than a walk or a bath in the lake--namely, your art of knowing just +what you want, and of wanting nothing which you cannot have. Was this +art born in you, or have you gradually acquired it, and paid your +instruction-fee for it, as for other arts?' + +"The best part of it is inborn," answered Kohle, quietly going on with +his sketching. "You must know that I came into this world as poor as a +church-mouse, and endowed with so small a proportion of all the goods +and gifts that fall to the share of so-called fortunate mortals, the +first-born and favorite children of Mother Nature, that, in my boyhood, +I had little pleasure in life, and would have parted with it very +cheaply. But then I discovered that I possessed something which +out-weighed all the glittering treasures in the world--such as beauty, +wealth, wit, or great intellect. I mean the ability to dream with my +eyes wide open, and to interpret my dreams for myself. The actual +world, with its joys and splendors, was as good as closed against a +poor devil like myself. How could such a wretched creature as this +Philip Emanuel Kohle, this lean, yellow ragamuffin in poor clothes, who +stumbled awkwardly through the world, and who could neither fascinate +women nor impress men, have the impudence to take his place at the +bounteous table at which the children of fortune felt at home? So I +held myself aloof, and earnestly and zealously set to work to evolve a +second world from my dreams--one which belonged to me, and from which +no one could bid me depart--a world which was far more beautiful, +sublime, and perfect, than the actual world about me. And as I +wasted no time or strength on anything else--neither in wretched +money-getting, nor in foolish ambition, nor even in hopeless love +affairs--my nature grew up straight and true, and in the greatest +development of which it was capable, which is by no means the case with +every one; and I could not help laughing in my sleeve, when I noticed +that I passed among my friends for a simpleton and a narrow-minded +fool. The truth is, my simpleness was the very thing that contributed +most to my secret contentment, when I saw how seldom the manifold +desires and restless striving of others led to happiness. '_Chi troppo +abbraccia, nulla stringe_,' say the wise Italians. I embrace nothing +but my art; but I embrace it the more passionately because it exists +for me alone. There you have the whole secret. There is a juster +apportionment of good and evil in this world than we are willing to +admit in our hours of depression." + +Felix was silent. It was on the tip of his tongue to say that he envied +him. Yet he felt at once how thoroughly right this quiet man was in his +last assertion. He felt that he would not, for all the peace in the +world, have given up his own miserable condition; for, at the same time +that it gave him the keenest anguish, it brought with it the certainty +that so charming a creature as his lost love was still in the world, +and had been brought so painfully near to him again. + +When noon came, they were called down into the garden by the +white-haired old woman, who, in her sober moments, was a most excellent +and active servant. The table was laid in a shady arbor near the house. +Rosenbusch and the actor had returned from their different expeditions; +the latter with a basket full of excellent trout, and the other +with a face which showed plainly enough that he too had not come +back unsuccessfully but had gained all he had promised himself from +his morning walk. He was in full gala-dress, consisting of his +violet-colored velvet coat, a white waistcoat, and a gigantic Panama +hat, beneath which his hair and his red beard, which had been shorn to +so little purpose, had already begun to sprout again. His honest, +merry, handsome face was radiant with good-humor; and as Elfinger did +his best to be entertaining, and Felix to make up for the alarm he had +occasioned on the previous day, the meal was enlivened by all sorts of +jollity and good stories. + +Nor was there, for that matter, any lack of more substantial dainties; +and Kohle, who had voluntarily taken upon himself the office of butler, +ran out every few minutes to fetch up another dusty bottle; for Rossel, +who was a light drinker himself, had a sort of passion for collecting +the rarest brands of wine in his cellar, if only a small supply of +each. It was not long before the programme which had been prepared for +the afternoon leaked out. They proposed to row over to Starnberg in +Rossel's pretty little boat, to land there, and then, while strolling +along the shore, to encounter, as if by pure accident, the two sisters, +who were to go out with their aunt, under the pretext of taking a walk. +Then, upon a polite invitation, they were all to get into the boat +again together, and be rowed out upon the lake, in whichever direction +circumstances and the mood of the moment might suggest. + +Rossel pronounced this plan to be very wisely conceived, but flatly +refused to take part in it. He had an aversion, founded on principle, +to all pic-nics, especially where there were ladies whom one was +obliged to treat with politeness and consideration, relinquishing to +them the most comfortable places and the daintiest morsels. For lovers +this was no sacrifice, since they could indemnify themselves in other +ways. But such a restraint could not be imposed upon free and +independent natures without great injustice. He would, therefore, +remain at home until the day grew cooler, and study Regis's translation +of Rabelais, which he had long had in mind to illustrate. Toward +evening he would stroll into the wood in order to take a look at his +mushroom-bed; for he had made it his especial task to forward the +culture of the mushroom in the woods about Starnberg, as well as the +general improvement and introduction of all edible fungi. Then, when +they came home late at night, intoxicated with sour beer and sweet +words, a supper should await them that would be "worth the toil of +princes." + +Felix, too, would gladly have remained behind. But there was no way for +him to do this without betraying his secret. And, besides, what else +could he do to quiet his secret yearning--since it was impossible for +him to approach her by daylight? He secretly consoled himself by the +thought that, when they returned, late in the evening, he would creep +to the garden-fence again, and watch the bright room leading off the +balcony. + +Philip Emanuel Kohle's feeble attempt to excuse himself, because of his +bashfulness in ladies' society, was clamorously voted down. As he was, +moreover, the only one of the party who carried a chart of the lake in +his head, he could not find it in his heart to desert his friends. + +There was a thunder-storm in the air, but it looked as though it had +come to a halt in the west, and would pass off harmlessly. The sky was +dark and lowering, and the lake was as smooth as a mirror, when the +light but roomy boat shot out of the little bay. Rossel stood on the +shore, waving his handkerchief and fez. Kohle sat at the tiller, +Elfinger rowed, and Rosenbusch, as they glided along past the green +banks, took advantage of the permit Rossel had given him, to play upon +his flute some of his most pastoral melodies--doubly melting this time, +for he was on his way to his sweetheart's side, and to Heaven knows +what romantic adventures. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + +They had scarcely landed at the end of the lake when they saw in the +distance the three figures they were looking for, strolling slowly +along the road that circled the shore. When within hailing distance, +the prearranged farce of a chance meeting and recognition was played +with the utmost seriousness, and it was impossible to detect, from the +godmother's manner, whether she had accepted a _rôle_ in the comedy, or +whether she innocently believed that the two gentlemen who lived +opposite the sisters in the city had merely seized this opportunity to +exchange a word or two with their lovely neighbors for the first time. +The girls bore themselves in accordance with their respective +characters--the elder quiet and sparing of words, the younger gay and +coquettish even to audacity. They were dressed charmingly, and indeed +almost elegantly; but Fanny wore dark ribbons, while Nanny's little hat +was adorned with a red rose and trimmings of the same color. The +battle-painter had warned the good Kohle at the dinner-table against +the godmother, as a pious creature, enthusiastic about art and +notorious for enticing into her net innocent young painters of a +serious turn of mind. But she was, in fact, a pleasant little soul +enough, far on in the thirties. She had lost her husband, a well-to-do +confectioner, shortly after their marriage, and was fond of protesting, +with many sighs, that she never, never could forget him. A Gothic +temple, made of sugar and adorned with numerous figures of saints, +which he had made for their marriage, as a sort of triumph of his art, +still stood in a state of good preservation under a glass case upon her +sideboard. Nevertheless rumor said of her that she had not always +harshly repulsed the numerous offers she had received as a widow, +though she had been too wise to give the slightest cause for public +gossip. Certain ecclesiastical gentlemen, who were in the habit of +going in and out of her house, gave her the best certificate of +character; and though she did not close her door to young artists, she +took care to see that they were proper, respectable people, who painted +church pictures with long robes, and did not wear their shirt-collars +after the fashion of too erratic genius; and that they held aloof from +all pagan theories of art. To this godly way of life she owed it that +her own godmother, the glove-maker's wife, had trusted her with "the +children" for a day, although some malicious people pretended to think +that to go gadding into the country was not exactly the thing for +well-preserved widows. + +She was quite modestly dressed, but yet in such a way that her figure, +already somewhat inclined to _embonpoint_, was shown to the best +advantage. In her manner she kept a wise mean between the severe +dignity which a God-fearing woman of an uncertain age usually maintains +toward youthful giddiness, and a too free approval of the pranks that +danced through her godchild's head. At the same time she did not try to +keep the silent Felix from knowing that his slim, manly form had made +an impression on her; though she was wise enough to do it so slyly as +to give a motherly sort of aspect to her interest in him. It was only +when the ungrateful man, whose poor soul was quite unconscious of its +conquest, continued to walk at her side in complacent abstraction, +casting furtive glances all around to see whether he was running +directly in the way of her whom he must especially avoid--then only did +she withdraw her favor from him and bestow it upon the insignificant +Kohle, whom Rosenbusch had introduced to her as a painter of the +severest style, a disciple of the great Cornelius, and one whom she +needed only to make a better Christian in order to win in him a new +pillar of ecclesiastical art. Kohle submitted to it all with a most +patient smile, and really began to pay pronounced attention to this +stately creature as well as he knew how, merely that he might not seem +to stand in the way of the others' sport. + +They had been strolling up and down the shore for about a quarter of an +hour in this way, when, as if without the slightest premeditation, the +proposal was made that they should take an excursion on the water; a +proposal which was accepted after a good deal of well-acted hesitation +on the part of the godmother, and much entreating and flattering and +coaxing on the part of the blonde Nanny. + +Soon afterward the boat, with its merry freight, shot out upon the +sunny lake, rowed now by Felix, who had had occasion to exercise this +noble art on many waters of the Old World and the New. Kohle sat at the +tiller and thought only of his dame Venus, notwithstanding the nearness +of the beautiful art-enthusiast who was opposite him. The two pairs of +lovers occupied the middle seats, Elfinger gazing devotedly on the +lovely face of his neighbor, who let her little white hand trail +through the green water, and seemed to-day to enjoy the beauty of this +world with all her heart. She held a large sunshade over her head in +such a way that her companion might also profit by its shade; the first +favor she had ever bestowed upon him, and one which made its modest +recipient very happy. Her vivacious sister, on the other hand, +maintained that Rosenbusch's great hat was really a family straw-hat, +and could afford protection against sunstroke to a whole ship's crew. +She freely exposed her laughing face to the sun, bound a white +handkerchief to her sunshade, which she planted like a flagstaff +between herself and her adorer, and declared that she was looking +forward with great pleasure to the storm which was undoubtedly about to +burst forth and bury them all in the depths of the lake, with the +exception of those who could swim--swimming being a great passion of +her own. She also offered to save one of the others, only it must not +be Rosenbusch, whose velvet coat was too heavy, and would certainly +drag down its owner. + +Aunt Babette--for this was the godmother's name--attempted now and then +to give her a reproving glance. But, as no one took the slightest +notice of this, she made up her mind to become young and worldly again +herself, particularly as the heat made all restraint doubly burdensome. +She unwound the lace shawl from her round shoulders, drew off her +gloves and untied her ribbons, so that she looked in her _négligé_ +almost as young and certainly as full of life as the serious Fanny. She +laughed even louder than the two girls at the jests and tricks which +Rosenbusch displayed for their amusement. He was celebrated for his +power of mimicking the whirring of a quail, the cackling of a hen, and +the noise of a saw. He told long and ridiculous stories in different +dialects, and delivered a sermon, with the most solemn pulpit +utterance, in a senseless jargon which he gave out to be English. But +his great masterpiece was a pantomimic scene representing nuns praying +at their nightly devotions. To do this he bound a handkerchief round +his head, and wrapped himself up in a lady's cloak so that only his +eyes, the tip of his nose, and his hands-folded over his breast--were +left visible, and then began with hypocritical zeal and constant change +of expression to roll his eyes and nod his head and murmur over his +rosary, now as an antiquated, dozing nun, who kept dropping off to +sleep between her prayers; now as a deeply contrite and extravagantly +penitent sinner, and again as a well-to-do sister, grown gray in the +convent, who had long since learned to regard the matter from its +practical side, and refrained from unnecessary exertion, but strove +from time to time to keep up her spirits by taking a stolen pinch of +snuff. + +This amateur exhibition had worked so irresistibly that even the worthy +godmother nearly lost her balance from laughter, and had to be +supported by Kohle; and it was only when the show had come to an end +that it seemed to strike the conscience of its mischievous author that +he might possibly have offended Elfinger's devout _fiancée_ by this +absurd parody. Whereupon, assuming an air of mock contrition, he begged +a thousand pardons of Fräulein Fanny, while in secret he reckoned it as +a good work to have given her a foretaste of the joys that awaited her. +Then, as if in penance for his offense, he suddenly began to play the +"_O Sanctissima_" upon his flute, with such beauty and pathos that even +the wild Nanny grew serious, and began to sing a gentle accompaniment, +in which her sister joined. + +It rang out sweetly over the lonely, brooding stillness of the lake, so +that they did not end with this first song, but followed each other +with their favorite airs. + +Elfinger sang an excellent tenor, and took great pains to make his song +strike home to the heart of his lovely neighbor. The two rowers alone +were dumb, though they had drawn in their oars upon getting well out +upon the water. Kohle had no more voice than a crow, and Felix felt as +if his breast were encircled by the seven girdles of the legend. + +As they floated along thus peacefully and quietly, a west wind sprung +up, and carried them unnoticed toward the opposite shore, where a +much-frequented garden-restaurant smiled on them from out the verdure +of a gently-sloping bank. Elfinger proposed that they should land here +and drink some coffee--a suggestion to which no one had an objection to +offer. And while they drifted slowly toward the shore he closed the +entertainment with a song which Rosenbusch had once written for one of +their feasts in "Paradise." It went to the tune of a popular melody, +and the author accompanied it skillfully on his flute. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + +While the few stanzas of the song were sung, they had approached so +close to the bank that the people in the garden, where a mixed Sunday +company was collected, could hear the flute, and could even catch the +words. Some of the guests had left their places in order to take a +nearer look at the musicians; and as Rosenbusch had a large circle of +acquaintances, he was enthusiastically greeted on all sides. With an +air of complacent self-importance, he conducted his lady, who was +suddenly overcome with fear lest she too might be recognized and +reported to her father, to the only table which was still unoccupied. +The others followed; Felix alone remained behind for a few minutes at +the boat to repair some trifling damage to the rudder. + +Then, as he started after his friends, seeking them in the crowd from +table to table, until he finally caught sight of Nanny's coquettish +little hat with the red rose by the side of the white "family straw" of +her cavalier--what was it that made him suddenly stand still in the +scorching sun, with his eyes fixed upon a little summerhouse, in which +six persons were sitting about a round table? + +It was the shadiest spot in the garden, and the party within had caused +it to be distinctly understood that they had no intention of admitting +any others, by occupying all the chairs that were still vacant with +their hats, umbrellas, and canes. Nearest the entrance, like a sentry, +sat the tall, lank figure of the lieutenant, in his well-known +riding-coat; and at his side a slender young lady with downcast eyes, +as if, in the midst of all this confused buzz and hum of conversation, +she were occupied only with her own thoughts. + +Just then Schnetz addressed some remark to her, and she looked up and +let her glance wander over the garden. Thus it happened that her gaze +met that of the young man who was standing so conspicuously in the sun. +It is true, he instantly lowered his eyes; but he had already been +recognized, and could no longer think of retreating unnoticed. Besides, +at that very moment he felt himself touched on the arm by Kohle, who +had been up to the restaurant in the mean while to order coffee. + +"What are you standing here for?" cried his busy friend. "Come and help +me entertain the Frau godmother, who is boring me to death with her +talk about the black Madonna in Altötting, just from pure spite because +you play St. Anthony to her." + +Felix stammered out a few unintelligible words and allowed himself to +be dragged away. The chair which they had reserved next to Aunt Babette +stood, fortunately, with its back toward the summer-house. But scarcely +had he seated himself in it when Rosenbusch began: "Have you seen our +lieutenant, baron? This respected amphibion is taking his dry day +to-day among the nobler fowl, and appears, to judge from his +disconsolate air, to be gazing with longing at our moist element. What +a joke it would be if I should go up and beg him to introduce me to the +old countess and the young baroness! The latter would probably remember +having met me at that _soirée_ at the Russian lady's, where you left me +to make love to her alone." + +Whereupon he gave the girls and their godmother a detailed account of +the musical entertainment, and of his conversation with Irene. Little +Nanny, who had possibly been infected by some of papa's prejudices in +regard to art, should be made to understand how highly a battle-painter +is regarded in the highest social circles, and what an enviable +position would be accorded to her as his wife. But the lively girl did +not appear to form a very exalted idea of his success. + +"Are you quite sure, Herr Rosenbusch," she said, "that they recognized +you again? The beautiful Fräulein scarcely moved her head when you took +off your hat to her, as though she meant to say, 'You are undoubtedly +mistaken in the person, sir.'" + +"It was merely her surprise, and a passing feeling of displeasure at +seeing me approach in such charming company. She may have attributed +too much meaning to the pretty speeches I made to her that night. These +high-born Fräuleins are devilish sensitive, and for that reason I now +refrain from speaking to her. But why don't you go over and introduce +yourself to the ladies, my dear baron--you who have blue blood as well +as they?" + +Just at this moment Schnetz, in all his lankness, stepped up to their +table and greeted the ladies with formal politeness, at the same time +shaking hands with his friends. The fact that he should meet Felix here +did not seem to strike him as strange. + +"You happy mortals!" he growled out, biting his cigar, and pulling his +hat down lower over his forehead, while he withdrew a little distance +from the rest with Felix and Elfinger. "You all get on so capitally +together, and it does one good to hear you laugh so heartily; while we +are keeping up the usual sort of conventional twaddle, which consists, +upon my soul, in each one's saying nothing which the others could not +have said as well. They have just been wondering, behind my back, that +I should have anything whatever to do with you people, whom they look +upon as _mauvais genre_. A few artists and two pretty girls, at whose +papa's Madame the Countess buys her gloves--_quelle horreur!_ But the +ladies are not so bad; even the young countess, with the fixed dimples +in her highly-colored cheeks--by Heaven! little Fanny over there looks +ten times as much like a countess--even she is a good child, _au fond_, +and the right sort of a husband might still make something of her. But +as for that cousin of hers, to whom she is as good as engaged, and the +other young nobleman, with the imperial and the heavy manner--between +ourselves, he is dead in love with my little princess, who scarcely +honors him with a look--_tonnerre de Dieu!_ what nice specimens they +are of our high-born youth! And to think of my being condemned to go +about among them without treading on their toes! Thus are the sins of +the fathers visited upon the children! The first Schnetz who, whether +as marshal or hostler, helped an Agilolfinger into the saddle, has it +on his conscience that I, the unworthiest of his descendants, still +belong with the rest of them, hard as I try to make myself disagreeable +and even unbearable." + +They agreed to meet again in the evening at Rossel's villa, and then +returned to their respective parties. But our friends soon grew +impatient of quietly sitting at table over their coffee. The +neighboring wood invited the lovers where they could be free from +chaperonage, and Aunt Babette was paying too close attention to an +exposition of art by the "interesting young man," as she called Kohle, +to take any heed of the fact that Rosebud and Nanny occasionally +disappeared from view entirely, while Fanny anxiously insisted upon not +getting out of sight of the others. + +Felix soon lost himself in a lonely side-path. His heart was hot within +him, and wild plans chased one another through his brain. He realized +only too well that matters could not go on in this way; that this state +of indecision _after_ the decision would soon drive him to despair. If +the old world really was not large enough for him to avoid one woman +in, the ocean must separate them again, and this time forever. What he +was to do over there; how he could justify his resolution to Jansen, or +reconcile it with his choice of art as a profession, or with his own +pride, were questions which were still enveloped in darkness. But as +for tamely submitting, and allowing himself to be made a fool of by +capricious fortune, which seemed as if it had deliberately set itself +to work to bring the two lovers together on every possible occasion--to +this he would never consent! + +Whether he himself had not played into the hands of chance a little, +yesterday, was a question he did not ask. + +A distant peal of thunder, rolling toward him from the west, suddenly +roused him from these confused and bitter thoughts. The sky above the +tree-tops was still blue, but was overcast by that light, lead-colored +haze which precedes an approaching storm. There was no time to waste if +they wanted to get across the lake before the storm should break. For +already the air held its breath so utterly that not a leaf rustled on +the trees, and not even the note of a bird was heard. The lake, along +the banks of which Felix was hastening, was still unruffled by a breath +of wind; but its mid-waters were black with the reflection of the +heavy, low-hanging cloud that spread over the heaven like a gigantic +slab hewn from a single block of slate. Behind it, the bright sunlight +still glowed on the horizon, and the distant mountain chain shone out +in the delicate green of spring, as if bathed in eternal peace. + +The approach of the storm had been observed by the people in the +garden, and most of the guests had been prudent enough to embark on the +steamboat which had just left, and was now half-way over to Starnberg. +But by the time Felix had joined his friends again it was too late for +them to choose this shorter way. Besides, Rossel's villa was a good +deal nearer than the Starnberg station, and Rosenbusch, who always had +his head full of adventures, was already dreaming of the improvised +quarters for the night, which should be prepared for the ladies in the +dining-room. He took very good care, however, not to give utterance to +these romantic projects, but merely urged a hasty departure, in order +that they might escape the rain. + +When they reached the landing-place, they found Schnetz and his party +engaged in an annoying scene. + +The young boatman who had rowed them over flatly refused to start on +the return trip, in view of the storm that threatened to break upon +them at any moment. The boat was too heavily loaded to get over the +water quickly, and his master had given him a bad pair of oars, the +good ones having been sent off with another boat early in the morning. +The gentlemen might offer him what they liked, but he would not make +the trip; he knew what he was saying, and what it meant "when the lake +and the sky came so near together." + +One of the young gentlemen was addressing the lad--who was a +neatly-dressed young fellow, and wished, perhaps, to spare his Sunday +clothes--in rough and imperious tones, commanding him to obey without +further parley, and to leave the responsibility to them. The lake was +as smooth as a mirror, and there was so little wind that the storm +might very likely be an hour in reaching them. But when, upon the +boatman's remaining obstinate, he tried to wrench the oar from the +defiant fellow's hand, saying that, if a lout like him had no pluck, he +might at least get out of the way and take himself to the devil--all +the man's pent-up fury and insulted _amour propre_ burst out; with an +angry answer in the most forcible epithets of his country dialect, he +threw the oar at the young count's feet, took his jacket out of the +boat, and, with a malicious grin, wishing the company a pleasant +journey, started off toward the highway which winds along by the +lake-shore. + +"The thunder-storm comes just right for him," said the waiter-girl, who +had been attracted to the spot by the quarrel, and who now stood gazing +after the angry fellow as he hurried away. "The ladies and gentlemen +mustn't think that Hiesl had started to run back to his father's on +foot; he knew well enough there was going to be a wedding celebrated in +Ambach, and had been impatient to get there for some time; for the +red-haired waiter-girl in the tavern there had completely turned his +head, and all because she wouldn't have anything to do with him--though +he would marry her on the spot if she would take him, and he was not +one to be sneezed at either, and was earning a good living too. So he +had caught at the pretext that the storm would be upon them before the +party could get back to Starnberg again, and was on his way as fast as +his legs would carry him, so as to get to Ambach, which was nearly an +hour from here, with a dry skin. Oh! these men!" + +She seemed to think it very foolish for him to run so far, when he +could find all he wanted close at hand. But in reply to their question, +whether there really was so much danger of the storm, she gave the most +comforting assurances; it might not reach them for several hours yet, +and, very likely, if a wind should spring up it would pass over +altogether. + +The young count, who now regarded it as a matter of honor to undertake +the trip and to outshine the obstinate boor by his superior skill as a +boatman, allayed all the old countess's doubts and fears; and the young +people did not shrink from a trifling lake-storm, particularly as +Schnetz, who was filled with horror at the bare thought of staying here +overnight, declared that there was not the slightest reason for +anxiety. He himself would take charge of the tiller as he had done when +they came out, and in half an hour they would undoubtedly be landed +safe and sound at the opposite bank. + +The whole scene had taken place so near the spot where the artists and +their companions stood, that not a word had escaped them. They were, +however, in even less of a humor to let themselves be frightened by the +distant growling of the heavens, and had already rowed out quite a +little distance into the lake before the more aristocratic boat shoved +off from shore. Felix bent to his oar with redoubled energy in order to +put as much water as possible between himself and his beloved enemy, +and it looked as though they would reach the opposite shore in half the +time usually needed for the passage. + +Nevertheless, it was strange that on this return voyage such a deep +silence should have succeeded to the high spirits with which they had +first rowed over. Even Rosenbusch said nothing, but contented himself +with casting the most eloquent glances at his sweetheart, who now sat +silent and pensive, with her head resting on her sister's shoulder. +Elfinger and his beloved looked away from one another down into the +dark water; and only Aunt Babette gave a little scream from time to +time when a vivid flash of lightning tore zigzag through the blue-black +clouds, and illuminated the woods on the bank in a green, ghastly +glare. + +The young nobleman in the other boat pulled a good oar. He was a +handsome, chivalrous young fellow, who certainly did not deserve the +contempt with which Schnetz had spoken of him. In order that the ladies +who had intrusted themselves to his care might be landed in safety as +soon as possible, he sought to overtake the other boat, in spite of its +lead. But his powerful exertions came to an end in a very unexpected +way. One of the oars, rotten with age, suddenly broke short off in the +middle; and at the same instant the first gust of wind swept with a +melancholy howl across the surface of the lake, which, as if +transformed by the touch of a magician's wand, began suddenly to surge +like a miniature raging ocean. + +Schnetz rose from his seat at the tiller. + +"I entreat the ladies not to prove false to the coolness they have thus +far shown, because of this little accident," he said. "We could +undoubtedly get across even without a second oar. But to have one will +be better. I will inquire of my artist friends over yonder if they +haven't one to spare." + +He wore a little metal whistle, suspended by a green cord from a button +on his waistcoat. With this he piped a sort of boatswain's signal. + +Elfinger started. "That is Roland's call!" he said, seriously. "What +can he want of us?" + +Felix raised his oar from the water; the two boats approached one +another. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," said Schnetz, "allow me, first of all, to make +you acquainted with one another, as well as such a thing can be done on +such a rocking floor, and without the customary bows. I have the honor, +ladies, to introduce you to my friend Baron Felix von Weiblingen, who +has just deserted a diplomatic career for the liberal arts, and, as you +perceive, knows how to handle the oar as skillfully as the chisel and +modeling-tool. Herr Graf ----, Herr Baron ----, Messieurs Rosenbusch +and Elfinger--the ladies, I understand, are already known to one +another. Look here, baron, can't you help us out with an oar? One of +ours has come to grief. We have suffered a slight shipwreck." + +Felix stood up. Although the waves rocked the little boat violently, +his slender, powerful figure stood out strong and erect against the +black, stormy sky. At the approach of danger he had recovered all his +coolness and confidence, qualities which he had often enough had a +chance to test in his adventurous journeyings through the solitudes of +the New World. Even the face opposite him in the other boat, the pale +oval framed by the hood of a gray cloak from beneath which straggled a +brown lock--even the glance of those eyes, which preferred to gaze down +into the dark, tempestuous depths rather than to meet his--nothing +could shake his coolness now when the time had come for him to show +himself master of the moment. + +"We carry a few extra oars with us, it is true," he shouted back, +raising his voice, for the storm began to howl louder and louder. "But +I should prefer to help you with them in our own boat--Elfinger is an +excellent oarsman--and to fasten your craft to ours. Then we will take +you in tow, and the passage will be much safer and quicker; for your +boat is a flat-bottomed, badly-built affair, without keel or cut-water, +and all you gentlemen are in it for the first time." + +"Agreed!" roared Schnetz in return. "Let us connect ourselves with our +_remorqueur_ with all possible speed, and then _vogue la galère!_" + +Rossel's well-equipped craft had, fortunately, a good supply of ropes +at hand, so that Kohle, from his seat at the stern, soon drew the +drifting boat up to his own and made it fast with a firm knot. Then +Felix and Elfinger bent to their oars, and their four strong arms +seemed to drive the two boats as if in sport over the raging surface of +the water. + +Not a word was spoken in either vessel. To the countess's whispered +question to Irene: whether this young baron belonged to the well-known +Weiblingens in D----, there came no answer. The young countess had +grown as pale as her high-colored complexion would permit. Her cousin +sought to conceal his ill-humor at the accident, by trying to light a +cigar; but the wind was too much for him. In the first boat, too, a +breathless silence reigned. Rosenbusch alone bent over from time to +time, and whispered a few words to his blonde sweetheart, but they were +lost forever in the storm. The gale raged above their heads with +increasing fury, lightning and thunder burst almost continuously from +the black clouds, and the blast, as it whirled the tumult through the +sky, seemed so violent that the clouds had no time to dissolve in rain. +All around the shore lay wrapped in darkness, and in the south, where +gusts of rain mingled the sky and lake together, every trace of the +mountain line had disappeared. + +Suddenly Felix's voice made itself heard at the extreme end of the +little flotilla: "I think it advisable, Schnetz, for us to change our +course. Otherwise we shall tire ourselves out pulling against this +head-wind without making any progress westward. In spite of all our +exertions, we haven't reached the middle of the lake yet, and, as we +may expect a deluge at any moment, I would propose, in the interest of +the ladies, that we turn about and try to reach the land quickly at any +price. What do you say?" + +"That we have no voice whatever in the matter!" Schnetz shouted back. +"In a storm the captain commands upon his own responsibility! and with +that, enough said!" + +A strong shove of the tiller showed that Kohle had decided in favor of +silent obedience. The good effects of the change were felt immediately; +for now the two boats, sailing with the current and the wind, skimmed +as though with wings over the high waves. + +But they already had been driven too far toward the south to reach +their old harbor again. When they had approached near enough to the +bank to distinguish trees and houses, they saw a scene which they did +not recognize--an inn close upon the lake, from whose windows streamed +a bright light and the merry sound of dance-music. + +"We have arrived just in time for the wedding," growled Schnetz. "If we +don't go to the devil first, we can while away the time by dancing--the +best way to get rid of all the bad effects of our fright. May I have +the honor, countess, of engaging you for a cotillion?" + +The old lady, who had been suffering the keenest alarm, and had +secretly made all sorts of vows to her patron saints, drew a long +breath of relief, and said, laughing nervously: "If anything had +happened to us, _mon cher_ Schnetz, your godlessness would have been to +blame for sending so many good people to the bottom. Well, _Dieu soit +loué, nous voilà sains et saufs._ Melanie, your hair is atrociously +disordered. How have you borne it, my dear Irene?" + +"I was not afraid. Still I shall be glad to get on shore." + +And, indeed, just at this moment, the rain-drops began to fall one by +one on the broad surface of the lake. + +Another quarter of an hour of vigorous work at the oars and the +foremost boat passed through the surf of the flat shore and ran up on +the beach. Felix sprang on shore and helped out the sisters and the +godmother. When it came to the turn of the party in the other boat, he +left to his friends the duty of setting the ladies ashore dry-shod, +while he busied himself in fastening the two boats to posts upon the +bank. + +The old countess came up to him, overflowing with earnest assurances of +her gratitude, which he politely put aside. Upon her presently +repeating her inquiry about his family, he dryly replied: + +"I come from beyond the sea, countess, and have left my family tree in +the backwoods. But you will get wet if you stay out here any longer. My +friend, Herr Koble, will have the honor of conducting you into the +house. It is well known that a captain must not leave his ship until it +lies safe at anchor." + +The good lady wondered to herself that a young man, who seemed to be so +_comme il faut_, should relinquish the honor of becoming her knight to +a _bourgeois_. But as she was rather confused and helpless, and did not +exactly know where to look for her son and son-in-law, she accepted the +painter's arm with condescending amiability, and, turning around every +instant to see that her daughter was following, she hastened toward the +house, in which the music had not ceased for a moment. + +Schnetz had taken possession of the two sisters, and the young count +approached Irene to conduct her into the house. But she declined his +proffered arm with a gesture of thanks, wrapped herself closer in her +cloak, and hastened after the others. + +She had not looked around at Felix, but at the threshold she hesitated. +Perhaps her beating heart was secretly whispering to her to turn, rush +into the storm and rain, and call to the lonely man upon the shore. + +Just at this moment her cousin turned to her with some casual question, +laid a hand upon her arm, and drew her across the hall into the guests' +room. She threw back her head with such a hasty movement, that her hood +fell off. Her young face, which she had learned only too well how to +keep under control, became cold and stern, and the moment which might +have broken the ice passed away unused. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + +Nor had Felix looked around at Irene. And yet he knew exactly when she +entered the door, and vanished into the house. + +His work on the shore had long been completed. The two boats were +fastened securely to their chains, and the heavy surf bumped their +wooden sides against one another with a dull, monotonous sound. It was +by no means pleasant here in the rain. The drops fell thicker and +faster; leaves and twigs were torn from the trees near the boathouse, +and sent whirling far and wide. And yet this lonely man here in the +storm could not even now make up his mind to seek refuge in the house, +which stood before him with its bright windows looking so hospitable +and cozy, and protecting a crowd of happy beings from the furies of the +gale. + +He was just considering whether he should not retreat, into one of the +boats which, lying under the roof of the boat-house, would at least +offer him a dry place of refuge, when a vivid flash of lightning lit +up the darkness around, and in the next instant, even before the +thunder-clap had time to follow, he heard a scoffing laugh, not far +away. He saw now that he was not quite alone. On the bridge of the +steamboat-landing, which was built on piles and ran out for some +distance into the lake, stood the young boatman who, an hour before, +had foretold the storm, and had refused to make the return journey. As +if he felt at home amid this whirlwind, he stood there in his +shirtsleeves, his jacket thrown over his shoulder, bareheaded, smoking +a short pipe, and leaning upon the railing of the bridge. His eyes were +fixed with an evil, piercing fire upon Felix, whom he had probably +mistaken for the young count because he had been busied with the boats. +As soon as the noise of the thunder had died away, he burst out anew in +a loud, scoffing laugh. "So Hiesl is a stupid boor, and doesn't know +anything--not even his own business? He ought to learn it from the city +gentlemen? Ha, ha, ha! I only wish you had had all the flesh washed off +your bones. Ha, ha, ha! Well, look sharp now, and carry the thing +through. It's just jolly inside there, and perhaps next time Heaven +will have sense enough to--" + +The howling of the storm drowned the rest of his speech. Felix had a +sharp reply on the tip of his tongue, with which to rebuke the fellow, +and at the same time to show him that he had made a mistake in the +person. But now the tempest broke in such a terrible deluge of rain +that he was absolutely deprived of sight and hearing, and had to grope +his way to reach the house with a tolerably dry skin. + +The heavy house-door was torn from its chain by the storm, and closed +behind him with a deafening crash. In the lower entry a number of +people sat at little tables hung on hinges along the wall, and just +large enough to hold the plates and beer-mugs. A country waiting-maid, +who was coming out of the kitchen, told Felix that his party were +up-stairs dancing, and asked whether he wanted anything. He silently +shook his head, and slowly ascended the stairs; not with the intention +of joining his friends, but merely to find where she was, and which +room of the house it would be necessary for him to avoid. + +Not a soul was to be seen in the dimly-lighted hall above; but all the +doors stood open on account of the heat, and poured forth a mixture of +lamp-light, smoke, and noise, while the floor creaked under the regular +tread of the dancers, and the air trembled with the surly grumbling of +a gigantic bass-viol. The dancing-hall lay at the extreme end of the +corridor. Felix walked along it without looking into any of the other +rooms until he reached the end door, where he found that, by standing +behind the spectators, he could comfortably overlook all that was going +on within. The bridegroom seemed to be a young forester, and his bride +a burgher's daughter from the city. Consequently, the whole affair had +a certain something about it which distinguished it favorably from +ordinary country weddings, and the couples spun around through the +spacious hall in quite an orderly fashion, and without the customary +shouting, screaming, and romping, to the music of several stringed +instruments, a solitary clarionet, and the occasional sound of a +woodman's horn. + +The first couple that Felix made out through the blue mist of +tobacco-smoke was Rosenbusch with his Nanny. And, to his surprise, he +saw Elfinger and his sweetheart waltzing gracefully close behind them; +and the future bride of heaven seemed to abandon herself without much +resistance to this worldly pleasure. + +And now even the young countess herself appeared amid this mixed +company, whirled by the young baron, her betrothed, far more rapidly +than would have been good _ton_ at a court ball. Her brother, the +count, stood in a retired corner, apparently paying his court to Aunt +Babette, who would not let herself be seduced into dancing again for +any price in the world. In the adjoining room, which he could only half +overlook, he perceived his friend Kohle, absorbed in an earnest +conversation with the countess. + +No trace of Irene anywhere! Could she have hidden from him? It was +hardly possible that she could be in the other rooms, where the more +elderly relatives of the bridal couple sat, eating and talking. And yet +he must know whither she had gone, in order to spare her another +painful meeting. + +A waiting-maid entering through one of the open doors just at this +moment, he determined to ask her about the Fräulein. But when he called +to the tidy-looking girl, and she turned her head toward him, a +half-joyful, half-embarrassed cry of surprise escaped them both. A +little more and the girl would have let the mugs fall from her hands. +Trembling and blushing she put down her load on a chair, and covered +her face with her hands. + +"What a queer place to meet _you_ in, Zenz!" said Felix, going up to +her kindly and holding out his hand. "How long have you been here? But +you don't know me any longer!--or won't you give me your hand because +you are angry with me?" + +The girl stood motionless, leaning against the wall and deeply flushed, +her hands outstretched, with the fingers wide-spread as if in +supplication. She was dressed much more daintily than the waiter-girls +down-stairs; her thick red hair, hanging in two heavy braids down her +back, was wound around with a little string of corals, and her arms +were bare to the elbow. Her charming figure showed to advantage in its +short dress and tight-fitting bodice, and a little rose in her bosom +set off the whiteness of her neckerchief and of her little coquettish +waitress's apron. It was no wonder she found suitors enough out here in +the country, and could play the prude toward the young boatman. + +"Well, Zenz," Felix began again, for she still remained silent, "is it +all over with our old friendship? You ran away from me once so +treacherously, you naughty child--I searched every corner for you--but +I bear you no malice on that score. Look here, perhaps you can tell +me what has become of the young Fräulein?--the tall one with the +water-proof? She is not with the others." + +"I know the one you mean well enough," the girl answered, suddenly +growing quite unembarrassed, for he behaved so coolly and seemed to +have forgotten all the past. "You mean the handsome one who has +something distinguished about her, more than all the rest. She couldn't +stand it long in the hot rooms, but had a chamber given her up-stairs, +so as to be all alone, for she had such a terrible headache, she said. +Do you know her? But of course you do; you came with the party. Why, I +shouldn't wonder if she were your--" + +She broke off and peered in his face, with a sly look. Something of her +old frivolity flickered up in it; but then she scornfully curled her +lips. + +"For all I care!" she said, shrugging her shoulders. "What difference +does it make to me who your sweetheart is? Go up the stairs there and +knock at No. 17. You will find what you are looking for." + +"Zenz," he answered, with a troubled look, "you are very much mistaken +if you think--But tell me, first of all, how you have been, and whether +you like the life out here better than in the city, and whether I can +help you in any way?" + +He felt the necessity of showing his friendliness in some way or other +to this good creature, whose devotion he had so coldly repulsed, that +he might efface the painful remembrance from her mind. She seemed to +feel this, and to be grateful for it. A soft blush--no longer of +embarrassment, but of joy--mounted to her cheeks. + +"How do I like it here?" she said, laughing. "Oh, pretty well so far. +The people of the house treat me very well, and if I do my duty, what +do I care for any one else? Only it's just a little dull and lonely +here." + +"I imagine there is no lack of people, Zenz, who would be glad to help +you while away the time if you would only let them." + +She did not answer at once, but listened in the direction of the +stairs, where some one had just crept up and had stopped half-way as if +to listen. There was a pause in the music, and any one standing on the +dark stairway could not have helped hearing every word that was spoken +on the landing above. The girl's face assumed a slighting, contemptuous +expression. She seemed to know who was standing there on the watch, and +purposely raised her voice so as to give the listener the full benefit +of what she said. + +"Have you, too, heard that gossip?" she said. "Well, if any one ever +says to you again that Zenz has got a lover here, give him my best +regards and tell him he is a mean liar. I know very well that the +waiter-girl in Leoni says all sorts of bad things about me because +Hiesl, the fisherman, who used to keep company with her, tries to pay +court to me. But, though I am only a poor girl, I am a hundred times +too good for such a wild fellow as he is, going about on every holiday +picking quarrels, and spending all his money on drinking and bowling. +Just think of it, that little Spanish knife I took from your table that +time by mistake--or rather not by mistake--I really believe, may God +forgive me, I would have liked best to kill myself, I felt so wild and +unhappy that night!--well, I have carried it about with me ever since; +I used to wear it stuck in my bodice instead of the spoon which, as a +waiter-girl, I ought to have carried, and it's not a week ago that I +told Hiesl my opinion of him once for all, and he grew so furious that +he snatched the knife away from me, and cried out 'to remember him if +anything happened,' or something of that kind. But I laughed, and said +unless he gave it back to me something _would_ happen, for I would +complain of him to the police. _He_ my lover! Well, I _should_ be a +fool! Besides, I don't want any lover at all; it always ends in the +girl's being deceived; and the one she can get she doesn't like, and +the one she likes she can't get. And now let me go, Herr Baron, the +ladies and gentlemen inside are waiting, and you must go and pay your +court to the Fräulein. Why should you waste your time out here with a +waitress?" + +She made a movement as if to take up her mugs again, but without +hurrying herself particularly. + +Just at this moment the music struck up again, playing a cheerful but +not very lively waltz, apparently with the purpose of inviting the more +elderly guests to join the dance. + +"Zenz," said Felix, looking her straight in the face, "I don't care +anything about the Fräuleins inside there; and, besides, I don't feel +in a mood for love-making. As soon as the storm is over, I am going off +without taking leave. If any one asks after me, you need only say that +I wanted to be in Starnberg in time to catch the last train. But first +I want to know whether I can't do you a favor of any kind, or get +something for you in the city, or whether you have any wish that a good +friend could fulfill for you? Speak out, Zenz! I am so unhappy myself +that I would like, at least, to give a little bit of happiness to some +one else." + +She looked searchingly in his face, as if to see whether he was in +earnest. She could not understand why he should not be happy. + +"Do you know," said she, at last, "if what you said was not meant as a +joke, I have a wish, and there is nothing so very terrible about it +either--I would like to dance with you, just once." + +"To dance with me?" + +"Of course I know well enough what is proper, and that a waiter-girl +shouldn't mix among the wedding-guests unless it happens to be a +peasant's wedding. But to be always hearing this beautiful music, that +makes you tingle down to the tips of your toes, and yet never to be +allowed to swing round with the rest, is very hard. I only mean that it +is almost the same out here in the entry as in the hall--you can hear +every note and the floor is smooth and clean. Will you?" + +He still hesitated. He certainly felt in no mood for dancing. But when +she suddenly put out her hand with a quick movement to seize her mugs, +as if she interpreted his hesitation to mean that, after all, he felt +himself too good to be her partner, he could not find it in his heart +to let her go away from him a second time feeling mortified and +insulted. + +"You are right, child," he said. "Let us dance. A man needn't be +particularly merry to have dancing feet. Come! But you must show me how +they do it here in the country." + +He put his arm round her slight and yielding figure, and she clung to +it with evident pleasure. "It goes splendidly," she whispered, after +the first round. "I feel as if I were being lifted up into heaven. Do +you remember how you put me on your horse, that time? Good Heavens! how +long ago that seems, and yet it's only a few weeks!" + +He did not answer, but went on dancing, rather gravely and seriously; +for it was no easy task to move easily up and down through the long, +narrow entry. And all the while he felt that his partner clung to him +more and more tenderly, while he himself remained perfectly cool; and +it was only when it seemed to him that they had had enough, and he had +released the girl from his arms again, in front of the chair on which +her beer-mugs stood, that he stroked her round face caressingly and +said: "Was that right, little one?" + +She trembled slightly, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of +the stairs which led to the upper story. Suddenly she pushed him from +her, whispered "Thank you," and, quickly seizing her mugs, ran past him +and down the stairs. + +He looked after her in surprise. What was it that had transformed this +girl so suddenly? A sudden suspicion arose within him. He rushed toward +the stairs, and peered up into the darkness. There was no longer +anything to be seen. But he heard a light footstep up above creeping +softly across the entry, and immediately afterward the latch of a door +was heard to fall, and a key was turned in the lock. + +A cold shiver passed over him, as the thought suddenly flashed across +him that this must have been she. She had started to go and join the +company, and had turned back when half-way down the stairs, in order +not to disturb his dance with a waiting-maid--! + +The discovery was so crushing that he remained standing motionless in +the middle of the corridor, and heard and saw nothing of what was going +on around him. He was finally roused from his stupor by one of the +wedding-guests, who, in stumbling past, struck against him with no +little force. He slowly felt his way down-stairs, passed across the +lower hall, and stepped out into the open air in a truly pitiable state +of mind. + +The storm had passed, but the air still trembled from the shock, and +now and then a drop fell from the roof, or the distant reflection of +the fading lightning flashed across the clear sky. The mountains stood +out on the horizon like light, sharply-defined clouds, and the +reflection of the stars danced up and down upon the waves, which seemed +to keep up the turmoil longer than anything else, and still surged +darkly on the shore. + +Felix went down to the bank, and walked to the extreme end of the +landing-pier. In the commotion of his thoughts, he found it impossible +to decide as to the course he should pursue. Should he at once seek an +interview with her, and explain how it had all come about--this +inconceivable, unheard-of, unpardonable scene? That after such a +painful meeting he had not scorned to flirt with a waiter-girl; that he +intended anything rather than to play a defiant and indifferent _rôle_; +that only a series of most unfortunate circumstances--but how could he +explain to her what it was that had induced him to behave so tenderly +toward the poor creature? And would she listen to him at all, for that +matter? After all, it seemed as if it would be better for him to write. +But even that would only help him out of the last phase of this +serio-comic dilemma. What was to guard him from a repetition of similar +scenes, if he continued to remain anywhere near her? + +He stood for a long time leaning over the railing of the bridge, +staring down into the restless, surging waves, lost in wild thoughts, +while through the open window the clarionet squeaked and the bass-viol +growled, as though there were none but happy people in all the world. + +At last, making a violent effort, he roused himself. He was determined +to avoid meeting a human face at any price, and to make his way to +Starnberg on foot. + +But, as he turned round, he saw behind him, planted in the middle of +the narrow way, a dark figure, which he immediately recognized as that +of Hiesl, the boatman. In his face, which he could plainly distinguish +in spite of the darkness, he could read the bitterest enmity. Besides, +the fellow had spread his legs, and thrust out his elbows, as if to +obstruct the way, and now stood grinning impudently in his face. + +"Fine weather, Herr Graf," he cried, hoarsely and thickly. "Quite fine +again for taking a walk, alone or with a single companion. I suppose +you won't be left alone long--ha, ha, ha! She'll probably get away from +the wedding soon, so as to dance a little while with the Herr Graf, all +alone by yourselves--ha, ha, ha!" + +"Get out of the way, fellow!" cried Felix, stepping close up to him. +"If you are seeking a quarrel, you will find you have hit on the wrong +man." + +"The wrong man?" blurted out the peasant, who coolly remained standing +where he was, and merely folded his arms across his breast. "That would +be a joke; if I couldn't see who the right man is, two feet off. You +are a count, and I am only a stupid country lout--isn't that the way? +And Zenz dances with you, and hangs on your neck, and turns her back on +me. So now, you see, I know all about it; I'm sober, too, and +understand my business as well as the next man. If the Herr Count would +perhaps like to row out upon the lake with the girl, Hiesl would +consider it an honor to provide a boat for his high-mightiness's +pleasure; and if the stupid country lout has to hold the light for the +Herr Count--" + +"Out of my way, you fool!" cried Felix, now angry in his turn at the +jealous fellow's crazy attack. "If you touch me with a finger, I'll +break every bone in your body. I don't understand a word of what you +have been raving about. The waiter-girl isn't my sweetheart, and if it +will give you any satisfaction, you can wait and see whether she will +steal out here to meet me. If you had your five senses about you, and +hadn't left your eyes behind in your beer-mug, you would see that I am +not your Herr Count. So get on! I'm in no humor to stand any more +nonsense!" + +The peasant made no answer, nor did he laugh any more; but stared +straight in Felix's face, and stood like a post. And now when Felix +stepped forward to pass by, he suddenly felt himself seized around the +waist and violently pushed back. The blood rushed madly to his +forehead. "You blackguard!" he cried, "if you will have it, you shall." + +He struck his adversary in the chest with such force that for a moment +the sturdy fellow's arms relaxed their hold. But the next instant he +felt himself grasped again and forced back to the edge of the wharf, +where the posts projected out of the water as high as a man's head, and +the water itself was deep enough to give plenty of room for the +steamer's keel. + +"You or I," gasped the furious peasant. "You or I! If she won't have +me, she sha'n't have you either, you damned city puppy!" He struggled +with renewed fury to push his enemy over the railing. But Felix was on +his guard. By a quick push he gained the shore side again, and forced +his opponent back almost to the last plank. For a moment the battle +paused. The next instant Felix felt a violent stab; a sharp-pointed +instrument had been thrust into him under the armpit between his breast +and shoulder, so that his left arm dropped paralyzed by his side. + +He felt at once that he was seriously wounded, and a terrible fury +seized upon him. "Murderer!" he cried; "you cowardly ruffian, you shall +pay for this!" + +Exerting all his strength, he threw the fellow to the ground, seized +his throat so firmly with his right hand that he could do nothing but +gasp, and would have strangled him had not the man, who had suddenly +become sober, and who was lying on the very edge of the wharf, been +crafty enough to draw the supple Spanish blade, with all his force, +across the hand that was choking him. The moment the bloody hand +released his throat, he slid over the edge of the wharf and immediately +vanished in the lake below. + +The dull, splashing noise of the fall suddenly brought the victor to +his senses. But he felt absolutely indifferent about the fellow's +rising again and gaining the shore. He had no other feeling than one of +disgust at this wild struggle in such a wretched cause. And now, when +he found himself alone on the high wharf, a cold shudder passed over +him, as if he had just shaken off a mad dog and hurled him into the +water. He peered down into the lake and then tried to laugh; but +shuddered anew at his own voice, that sounded so strange to him. Then, +too, the squeaking, idiotic clarionet and the comfortably grunting +bass-viol kept sounding in his ears;--what a world, in which all this +could be huddled so close together! Then, leaning on the railing, over +which the blood from his hand was trickling, he raised himself up, and +was conscious now, for the first time, of a piercing pain in his +shoulder. But his legs still bore him. Away, only away! was all he +thought. The resolution he had previously formed, before the murderous +fellow came in his way, rose clearly before his mind again, to hasten +to Starnberg, from there back to the city, from the city to the ends of +the earth. Only away! without looking back--no matter what was left +behind him! + +He took a few steps away from the wharf, in the direction of the road. +But he had not gone far when he lost consciousness, his knees gave way +beneath him, and he fell senseless on the rain-soaked earth. + +A moment after the house-door was opened, and Schnetz stepped out into +the open air, followed by Kohle, bearing a large umbrella. The old +countess had begged them to go out and see whether the return trip +might now be taken without danger. They themselves were anxious to +escape as soon as possible from the stifling, sultry tumult of the +wedding festival; while the others, who had caught the dancing fever, +did not appear to notice how the hours had slipped away. + +Schnetz cast but a single glance at the heavens, and then said, with +the confidence of an old soldier who has reconnoitred a hostile region: +"It's all right. We may give the signal for breaking camp. But first we +must take a look at the boats. What's become of the baron? Did you +notice, Kohle, that during the whole trip he has been in a mood like +that of a cat in a thunder-storm, for all he pretended to be so quiet? +_Nom d'un nom!_ I wish--" + +The word died on his lips. For just at that moment he caught sight of +him of whom he spoke, lying lifeless on the damp ground. He bent over +him in horror, and called him by his name. When no sound came in +answer, and only the pool of blood in which he lay gave sign of what +had happened, he quickly recovered his presence of mind and coolly +weighed the situation. + +"There's no medical assistance to be had in this hole," he said; "we +must row him over to Fat Rossel's villa, and send at once for the +Starnberg doctor, who fortunately is said to be a skillful man. What +are you sniveling in that wretched fashion for, Kohle? He isn't going +to die on the spot. In Africa I've seen a man pull through far worse +cases than this. Pluck up your spirits, man, and before all things +don't make a noise. Not a soul must know of this until we are safely in +our boat. We must take Rossel's boat for us three alone, so that he can +lie at full length; how the others will get home is their own lookout. +The young gentlemen will undoubtedly know how to help themselves out of +the scrape." + +He tore a leaf from his note-book, and wrote a few words upon it. "So, +give that to Red Zenz, the waiter-girl. She appears to me to be a +plucky sort of person who doesn't lose her head easily. She is not to +give the note to the young baroness, who is the only person here to +whom I owe an explanation, until we have embarked. Make haste, Kohle, +make haste. Meantime I'll be making a bed in the boat." + +In five minutes Philip Emanuel came running back again, with Zenz +following close at his heels. She did not speak a word, for Kohle had +enjoined the strictest silence upon her, but her face was as white as +chalk; and when she saw the wounded man she fell on her knees beside +him and groaned aloud. + +"Be quiet," commanded the lieutenant; "this is no time for whimpering. +Have you got a piece of linen, girl? We must make a bandage." + +Still remaining on her knees, she tore off her white apron and the +kerchief round her neck. It was only when Schnetz had hastily bound up +the shoulder and the wound in the hand, and, with Kohle's aid, had +carefully borne the unconscious form into the boat, that she raised +herself from the ground and followed the men to the shore. + +"I am going with you," she said softly, but very decidedly. "I must go +with you. I gave the note to the other waiter-girl; she will see that +it is delivered. For Christ's sake, let me go with you! Who else is +there to take care of him?" + +"Nonsense!" growled Schnetz; "he won't need any care on the way over, +and on the other side there is help enough. What are you thinking of, +girl? You can't run away from service in this free-and-easy way." + +"Who is to hinder me?" she said, laughing defiantly in the midst of all +her anxiety and wretchedness. "I belong to no one. I tell you I will go +with you, if it were only to hold his head on my lap on the way, so +that he would lie softer. If you won't take me with you--there's an old +dug-out over there--I'll row after you as true as my name is Zenz. I +must hear what the doctor says, and whether he will live." + +"Then come along, in the devil's name, you witch; but no shrieking and +bawling. Get into the boat, Kohle; so, lift him carefully now--and you, +girl, take a seat in the middle. It's true, it won't do any harm if he +has something softer under his head than this bundle of sticks." + +A few minutes more and the slender boat pushed off from the shore. +Schnetz rowed and Kohle sat at the tiller again; but, instead of the +merry company that had occupied these same seats but a few hours +before, amusing themselves with singing and flute-playing, there now +lay on the bottom of the boat a white, silent passenger, with closed +eyes; and at his head crouched a pale girl, who, from time to time, +silently dried with her long red locks the heavy drops of blood which +oozed out from under the bandages. Her head was sunk upon her breast. +The others must not see how the big tear-drops coursed steadily down +her cheeks. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + +Up-stairs, in a bare, meanly-furnished room of the tavern, lay Irene. + +The dim beams of the setting sun shone in through the little +window-panes, which were still dripping from the rain, but did not +penetrate to the sofa where the poor girl cowered in an agony of grief, +covering her face with her hands and vainly trying to close her ears so +tightly with the folds of her hood that she should not hear the music +of the waltz below. The walls and floors of the lightly-built upper +story groaned under the regular step of the dance. Never in all her +life, she thought, had she been more wretched and miserable, not even +in those gloomy days before she resolved to write Felix a letter of +farewell. Then there was still a certain greatness, dignity, and +harmony left both within and about her; now her condition was painful +and revolting to a degree that seemed almost pitiably ridiculous. + +She, lying up here in torture; and he down below in the best of +spirits, whirling about with a waiter-girl in his arms, to the music of +a peasant's orchestra--not among the other wedding-guests even, but +apart, secretly, in the way one only dances when one is very much in +the mood for it, or very much in love! She did not even have the +consolation of thinking he had done this merely out of defiance to her, +out of secret lovesickness and grief. He could not possibly have had a +suspicion that she would come down and surprise him at his dance; that +she would see how tightly the girl clung to him, and how reluctantly +she finally released herself from his arms. + +She had flown up-stairs as if pursued by a ghost, had pushed the bolt +to behind her with trembling hands, and had thrown herself on the hard +little sofa, and shut her eyes and bowed her head as if now the death +blow might fall at any moment. And down below, the jovial bassviol +hummed and buzzed, and the clarionet abandoned itself to the most +extravagant passages. + +For the moment she hated this man, whom heretofore, through all their +separation, she had mourned over as one does over a dead friend, who, +though lost, is still dear forever. When she thought that the hand +which had once caressed her had stroked the chin of this coarse +red-haired girl, a pang of bitter aversion shot through her heart, as +if she felt herself humiliated and dishonored by the mere association. +She shed no tears, but only because her pride rose up in all its +strength against such a proceeding. And yet she had to bite into the +silk lining of her hood with her little teeth in order to suppress her +sobbing and restrain her weeping. + +She felt that she must take some step to put an end to this unbearable +state of things; that she must start the very next morning on the +Italian journey which had been so unfortunately postponed. But to-day, +now, when before all else she must avoid meeting him again, she must +escape from this mad-house where she stood in positive danger of going +crazy herself. + +Just then a knock was heard at the door. She sprang to her feet in +alarm. If it should be he? if he had come, perhaps, to justify himself +to her; to excuse his outrageous behavior? + +She was incapable of uttering a sound; and, even after the knock had +been repeated a second time, she was unable to ask who was there. It +was only when she heard the voice of the waiter-girl, who called +through the door that she had a message to deliver to the Fräulein, +that she found strength to drag herself with trembling knees to the +door, and open it. She took a note from the girl's hand, shook her head +quickly in reply to the question whether she wanted a light, and bolted +the door in the face of the hastily-dismissed messenger, who would have +been glad of a chance to talk a little. + +There was light enough at the window for her to decipher the martial +handwriting of the lieutenant. + + +"My friend has suddenly been taken very ill. I must transport him to +Rossel's villa without delay. Please to excuse my desertion to the +other ladies. Commending myself to the indulgence of my noble young +mistress, I remain, in the most devoted haste, + + "SCHNETZ." + + +"My friend"--she knew that no other could be meant than Felix; and yet +this news, which, at any other time, would have given her a deadly +shock, came to her now like a release from the bitterest torture. Would +she not bear anything rather than know that he was happy after the +wrong he had done her? Might not the outrageous scene she had just +witnessed be explained as coming from a freak of fever--from a last +flaring-up of his spirits before the final breaking-down? Then, in +spite of all, he was still worthy of her secret thoughts--ay, she even +owed him some apology, and could grieve for him, and show him that +sympathy which we owe to all who are in suffering. + +A heavy weight fell from her heart. She read the note a second time. +"Rossel's villa?"--that lay only half an hour's walk from theirs. She +might get news before the evening was over. Schnetz would very likely +come himself and tell her. + +But, while she was absorbed in such thoughts, she let her eyes sweep +across the lake, and saw the boat, rowed by Schnetz and Kohle, just +pushing off from the shore. The twilight was still bright enough to +enable her to distinctly recognize the girl in the waitress's dress, +who sat on the low seat and held the youth's head in her lap. If there +had still been any doubt in the watcher's mind, it would have been put +at rest by the sight of the red braids, with which the little Samaritan +appeared to be caressing the insensible man. + +With quick strokes of the oars the boat shot out on the broad surface +of the lake. A few minutes, and the figures in it had faded into +shadows. Soon, only a faint line on the lake's polished mirror +indicated the course the silent craft had taken. + +A quarter of an hour after, Irene entered the room next to the +dancing-hall, where the old countess was impatiently awaiting the +return of her cavalier, who had only left her to make preparations for +the homeward voyage. She was frightened by the Fräulein's colorless +face, and overwhelmed her with anxious inquiries. Irene handed her the +lieutenant's note, in lieu of any other answer. The lively excitement +into which this very unfortunate incident threw the good lady diverted +her thoughts completely from Irene's condition. The young people, too, +who were hastily called away from their dancing, were far too much +occupied with one another, and with the question what was to be done, +to find anything odd in Irene's mute and stony manner. Besides, she had +already complained of a headache. The countess scolded at Schnetz for +having taken no thought of her. To whom could they intrust the guidance +of the vessel now? She flatly refused Elfinger's and Rosenbusch's +willingly-offered aid, nor would she listen to such a thing as their +looking about for a boatman in the house, but declared that now no +price would induce her to trust herself upon the water again. Instances +had been known where the wind had suddenly sprung up and driven back a +thunder-storm that had once passed over! + +In the mean while, the young count had been in consultation with the +landlord, and now came to report that a carriage could be ready +immediately, which would easily carry them to Starnberg inside of an +hour. The other party might then make use of their boat, unless they +should prefer to wait until the vehicle came back. But as the sky was +clear, and the night warm and lovely, both the sisters and Aunt Babette +thought it would be more advisable to make the voyage across than to +wait several hours more in the close house. + +So they took leave of the wedding-guests with more or less ceremony, +and made preparations for starting. The old countess, who, for several +hours past, had shown herself extremely gracious as long as Schnetz was +present to act as go-between, and the unknown young baron had lent a +certain respectability to his burgher friends, now suddenly seemed to +become conscious again of the gulf between her and the savers of her +life--particularly in the case of the girls, whom she did not honor +with another word. She gave Rosenbusch to understand, in pretty plain +language, that she was very angry with Schnetz, who had quite forgotten +all "_égards_" toward her, and had gone off without even coming to take +leave in person. The battle-painter, who found himself placed in a +rather embarrassing situation, was just on the point of making some +excuse for his absent friend, when suddenly the words stuck in his +throat. They had left the house in order to wait outside until the +carriage should be ready. There, on the white gravel close to the bank, +Rosenbusch saw a dark spot, from which a broad trail of drops ran down +as far as the landing-place. "Good God!" he cried. "What is this? +Blood? Freshly-shed blood? Countess, if this blood should really have +come from our baron, our friend Schnetz would undoubtedly be justified, +even by the severest court of honor, for having failed in the laws +of courtesy. I beseech you, don't let the others learn anything of +this--young ladies are so devilish timid and frightened at the sight of +blood--" + +Unfortunately the warning came too late. Irene had just stepped up to +the place where they were standing. When she caught sight of the +ghastly trace, she uttered a low cry, staggered back, and leaned for a +moment upon Rosenbusch, who officiously sprang to her assistance. This +scene caused the others to hasten up; and after the first shock was +over, they exhausted themselves in speculations upon this mysterious +occurrence. Who could possibly believe in hemorrhage in a young +man of such conspicuous strength and powerful figure? And as for a +fight--where were they to look for an adversary? + +The friends were still standing around the ghastly spot, shocked and +not knowing what to do, when one of the hostlers, belonging to the +hotel, came running up and told them he had also discovered traces of +blood on the landing-bridge, and this knife lying near them, on the +bank. It was not an ordinary peasant's knife with the blade fastened +firmly in the handle, but a slim dagger of Damascus steel, and the +handle bore a distinct impression of a bloody hand; no one except Irene +knew to whom it had belonged. + +In the mean while the carriage had driven up, and they lifted Irene in. +Though still suffering terribly, she struggled hard to maintain her +composure. The mother and daughter and the two young men crowded into +the other places as well as they could. Another short leave-taking, +whose brevity was perfectly explained by the gloomy mood they were all +in, and the aristocratic part of the company rolled away. + +A few minutes later the boat pushed off from the shore, rowed by +Rosenbusch and Elfinger. The night was still and clear, and the cool +wind blew, soft and damp, upon the girls' hot cheeks. But they sat +nestled close to one another, and gazed in silence at the sparkling +water; nor did either of the friends utter a word. Aunt Babette alone +made a slight attempt at conversation, by saying how amiable these +aristocratic persons were upon nearer acquaintance, and what a pity it +was they could not have returned home together; for she had been +telling the young count so much about Rosenbusch's flute-playing. + +As no one made any answer to all this, she, too, grew silent, folded +her hands in her lap, and appeared sunk in pious meditation. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + +It was close upon midnight when Irene's uncle returned, in his open +wagon, from a trip to the Ammersee. The old lion-hunter was in glorious +spirits; he had made several bull's-eyes at the shooting-match; had +made love to the ladies; and had found a willing ear for his most +fabulous African hunting-tales even among the men. Even his famous +story of how he had aimed a double-barreled English rifle at a lioness, +and had fired two shots so rapidly one after the other, that the ball +from the right barrel shot out the animal's right eye, and that from +the other the left--even this narrative, about whose truthfulness some +doubts had occasionally been expressed, was apparently swallowed in all +faith. The champagne had done all the rest; so that the happy man +started out of the sweetest dreams when his carriage drew up before the +wicket-gate of the Starnberg villa. + +He was surprised to see that the balcony-room was still lighted up. It +was not in the least like Irene to allow an affectionate anxiety for +her night-owl of an uncle to keep her awake, and all signs of light +were extinguished in the neighboring houses. Then it occurred to him +that perhaps Schnetz had decided to stay out overnight, and to sit up +until his return. He was glad of this, for it would afford him an +opportunity to give an account of his triumphs to a connoisseur in such +matters; and he was therefore disagreeably disappointed when, upon his +entering the little _salon_ up-stairs where the light was burning, his +young niece alone advanced to meet him. + +Her face looked so strangely agitated, her manner was so excited, that +his champagne spirits departed on the instant, and he asked, in great +alarm, what had happened, and what had become of friend Schnetz? and +why Irene, who was evidently unwell, had not gone to bed? + +Speaking rapidly and with difficulty, she gave him an account of what +had passed. Not until she had finished the story did the name of him +who had played the chief _rôle_ in this bloody catastrophe pass her +lips. + +But the effect produced by her account was very different from what she +had expected. + +Instead of expressing horror and sympathy the lively gentleman ran +around the room uttering a cry of joy, rubbing his hands and behaving +himself generally in such a delighted way, that Irene regarded him with +amazement, and finally asked him whether he had been listening to her, +or whether his thoughts were still with the merry hunting-party he had +just quitted. + +"No, no! my dearest child," he cried, suddenly halting before her. "You +suspect me wrongly. Unfortunately I am accustomed to being +misunderstood by you, and to being accused of a frivolity which +sometimes overtakes me even in those moments when my proud little niece +assumes her most tragic tone. But, believe me, Irene dear, I see no +reason in this whole catastrophe that you have told me of to change my +way of thinking. That our Felix has lost a few drops of blood will not +do the scapegrace any particular harm, perhaps, and will take the +wildness out of him a little. At the worst, there will be no immediate +bad consequence--for that I can trust my good old Schnetz; and +Providence will not be so foolish as to send such a fine young fellow +over the bourn by such a miserable knife-scratch as this. And if we +escape with a simple fright, the whole situation will be left in the +best condition imaginable to repair some foolish errors that we have +made. Come, my child! Look me in the face, and confess that in secret +you are of my opinion." + +She looked him directly in the eyes, but with a sad expression. + +"We misunderstand one another again, uncle." + +"Say, rather, you don't think it becoming to wish to understand my +honest and candid opinion. But, since you are ten times brighter and +more diplomatic than an old hunter and soldier like myself--" + +"I entreat you, uncle--" + +"You can't fail to understand, without any further explanations on my +part, that it amuses me enormously to see our youngster Felix, whom I +imagined to be wandering about God knows where, a sighing and rejected +suitor, suddenly turn up next door to us. Do you mean to tell me that +chance has arranged all this so skillfully? Pooh, pooh!--you can't +cheat me. I tell you he has been traveling after us, and has secretly +followed his old flame, whom he still worships, into the primeval +forests of Starnberg and across the tempestuous lake of Würm; and, +since there was no other way of making up to you again with any +self-respect, he has adopted the very wisest course, and one that never +fails in its effect upon you soft-hearted souls, namely, that of +creeping into your sympathy by means of a few ounces of spilt blood, of +which article, by-the-way, he still possesses a very fair abundance. +And now--" + +"Unless you want me to leave the room, uncle, spare me these perfectly +groundless insinuations. Have I not told you that he had no suspicion +of our plan to make a stay in Munich, and that Schnetz told me how he +entered a studio with his old friend Jansen, with the intention of +becoming a sculptor? But even if it were all just as you have arranged +it in your own mind--what difference would it make in my resolution? +Hasn't this unfortunate meeting proved the truth of all that I said to +myself when I gave him back his promise?--has it not confirmed my +belief that we could never be happy together? And yet, you imagine I +would think differently of him because he now lies dangerously ill, and +perhaps dying, of wounds which were undoubtedly given him by his rival, +that peasant fellow--in a fight--about a tavern-waiter--" + +Her voice failed her; she turned away to repress her tears; but her +passionate pain overcame her, and, bursting into uncontrollable +sobbing, she sank back on a chair near the open door leading on to the +balcony. + +Even the jovial mood of her good-hearted foster-father was not proof +against this passionate outburst of long-suppressed feeling. He had +always regarded the girl's self-possessed bearing with amazement, and +had secretly attributed to her a certain coldness of heart, for she had +never given him an insight into the struggles and storms of her young +life. And now she sat before him like a child that has given way to its +grief, deaf, apparently, to all comforting words and caresses. + +"You will bring things to such a pass," he cried, in ludicrous +desperation, "that I shall be forced to take up my old trade, and go +out lion-hunting again in my old age. Upon my word it's less wearing +work than having anything to do with a pair of estranged lovers, who +will neither come together nor yet separate entirely. The thing worked +passably as long as you were able to face it out. After all, although I +always looked upon it as a piece of foolishness for you to give such a +lover his dismissal, just because he didn't want to kiss the slipper +before his marriage: still, I supposed you must know what you were +about, and it was impossible for me to supply a mother's place toward +you, and explain how we men ought to be managed. At all events, things +ran smoothly, and we went on living peacefully together. But now, when +the ice suddenly breaks and you lose all control over yourself--tell +me, what in the world am I to do? My experience with wild animals has +made me something of a savage; but I instantly become the most cowardly +and chicken-hearted of domestic animals if a woman--and particularly +one I care so much for--begins to cry in my presence." + +She suddenly drew herself up, shook back her curls and passed her hand +across her eyes. + +"You shall not have to complain of it again, uncle," she said, in a +determined tone; "most assuredly, never again. You are right; it is +foolish to cry about something that was all over long ago. You will +never, never see me do it again." + +"My brave girl!" he said, embracing her and kissing her wet cheek, a +liberty he very seldom ventured to take. "I am glad you still care a +little for your old uncle. But now, go to bed, for it has grown so +late--" + +"To bed!--in this terrible state of anxiety? What are you thinking of, +uncle? Will it be possible for you to sleep?" + +"Why not, you little goose? Ay, the sleep of the righteous, for I have +done my duty to-day, and have shown how our race can shoot--" + +"And you can deep before you know how he is?--and what the doctor has +said? I should have sent over to inquire before this, but the people of +the house are all asleep, and my maid Louisa is a stranger here and +would not be able to find the place." + +"And you think I myself--well, I must confess!--at one o'clock at +night, tired to death by all my laurels--" + +"Uncle, unless you want to see me die of anxiety--" + +She threw herself into his arms, and clung to him in such helpless +entreaty that he could not resist. Sighing, and bitterly cursing in his +heart the feminine caprice which could first cast off a fine young +fellow and then make her life hang on his, he left the house once more. + +She called down to him from the balcony, gave him the directions for +finding the nearest way to the physician's house, and then stood there +motionless, in the cool night air, waiting for his return. + +He came back in a quarter of an hour, but brought no comforting +intelligence. The physician had not yet returned from Rossel's villa, +and would, in all probability, spend the night there. He had made the +physician's wife, whom he had routed up out of her sleep, promise +faithfully to send news the first thing in the morning. + +So there was no help for it, the night had to be passed in the most +agonizing state of uncertainty. + +But before the sun had long been shining across the lake, the physician +came in proper person; led, not only by the message that had been left +for him the night before, but also by a note that Schnetz had +commissioned him to deliver to his old comrade and brother-in-arms. In +this missive, in his own odd style, he supplemented the physician's +bulletin by all sorts of details. The wound in the hand, he said, in +conclusion, was, it was to be hoped, of no great account; a sinew had +been grazed, but not cut through, so that the determination of this +noble youth to augment the number of breadless stone-hewers would, in +all probability, not be defeated by the brutal intervention of a +Bavarian fist. The physician, on the other hand, reported that the +wound in the left shoulder was not altogether without danger, as the +stab had reached the extremity of one of the lungs, and a long rest and +course of nursing would be necessary before the arm could be used +again. For the rest, the patient would receive the best of care in Herr +Rossel's villa; his blood and circulation were in a thoroughly healthy +condition, and serious danger was quite out of the question. + +The doctor, who had never before seen the baron and the beautiful, +silent Fräulein, and who found nothing strange in her sympathy, as she +had formed one of the party on the day before, soon took his leave, +with a promise to keep them regularly informed about the case. Scarcely +had he gone, when Irene declared she would not go away from the place +until all danger was over; but that then she would not breathe the air +on this side of the Alps a moment longer--it weighed upon her spirits. + +Her uncle had to give her his word of honor that he would consent to +this arrangement, and also that he would not let Schnetz observe how +deeply they were both interested in the wounded man, but would explain +their sympathy as arising from pure philanthrophy. And it really was +nothing more than that, she said. + +Even though every inner bond was severed between them, still, she would +never be able to answer for it to her conscience if she should start +off before the question whether he might not possibly need her had been +definitely set at rest. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + +Was it nothing but abstract philanthropy that suffered Irene to find no +rest in any place or any occupation all that day, in spite of the +comforting assurances of the doctor?--that drove her from the piano to +the writing-desk, from the writing-desk out on to the balcony, and from +the garden down to the shore? Not a step sounded on the floor, not a +carriage rolled past in the street, but what she trembled. She had +herself sufficiently under control, however, not to betray her +nervousness by a single word. But her feverish restlessness did not +escape her uncle, who, the night before, had gained for the first time +a clear insight into a nature usually so proud. He was secretly +rejoiced at this, much as he pitied the poor child in her restless +grief. For the first time in years he felt that he was the wiser of the +two; that he was being justified by the course things were taking, and +that his good advice, which had once been scorned, was now redounding +to his credit. But as he really loved her, he behaved with the most +labored delicacy and consideration toward the young sufferer; never +touched her hidden wound by a single word, and only grumbled now and +then at the faithless Schnetz, who, considering the slight distance +that separated them, might certainly have come over and given him a +report of the patient by word of mouth. + +He knew that this thought was never out of Irene's mind for a moment, +and that all her listening and waiting turned upon it. But when the +afternoon came, and no new message made its appearance, he threw his +rifle over his shoulder, kissed the hand of his pale little niece, and +left the house to scour the woods for a while. If Schnetz should show +himself in the mean while, they were to hold him prisoner for the +evening. + +Scarcely did Irene find herself alone, when she fancied she could not +breathe the air in the close little rooms any longer. She hastily +caught up her sketch-book, put on her hat, and called her maid to +accompany her for a walk. She had recently discovered a picturesque +spot, with old trees and high ferns, farther back in the woods, which +she wanted to sketch. She trusted that she should be able to find it +again. + +Once outside in the streets, she took such quick steps that the girl +could hardly keep up with her. But Louisa was too well-trained to take +the liberty of asking any inquisitive questions. That her mistress was +not just as usual; that she kept her head turned away as much as +possible, and did not address a single word to her faithful attendant, +she could not, indeed, help noticing. But then these high ladies have +their moods. At first, the Fräulein seemed to be looking around, right +and left, in search of the goal of her artistic efforts. Then, after +they had walked along the forest-road for about a quarter of an hour, +and one villa after another, lying amid park and garden shrubbery, +began to appear on the bank of the lake to the left, the most lovely +old tree-trunks and foreground effects could not win a look from her. +Several times she stood still before one of the gates, and appeared to +be speculating as to who might live in the house beyond. The day +before, Schnetz had given her, in his favorite manner, a humorous +description of "Fat Rossel's" villa, and had cut a silhouette of its +occupant out of a piece of blotting-paper. These were but weak clews. +So she went on farther and farther, and her cheeks grew more and more +flushed from the rapid exercise, and her companion, who was rather +inclined to corpulence, found it harder than ever to keep up with her. + +At last she ventured to ask a laborer whom they met, carrying a +pick-axe and shovel, where Herr Rossel's villa was. The man pointed to +a park-fence made of rough, pine stakes, and was very much amazed when +the young lady rewarded this trivial service with a bright half-gulden. + +"Louisa," the Fräulein said, standing still for a moment to recover her +breath and push back her hair, "you will wait for me outside here. I +have to make some inquiries about something in the garden, and will be +back directly. The spot where I meant to sketch lies off to the right, +in the middle of the wood, and I see now that the afternoon light will +not be as favorable as I thought. It doesn't matter. I shall still be +able to draw a few lines. In the mean while hold my sketch-book--or no, +I will take it with me--you would be sure to get the leaves out of +order. Sit down there on that stump. I sha'n't be gone more than five +minutes." + +The girl obeyed without a word. She had never before heard the name of +the gentleman about whom Irene inquired. She tried to make out some +connection in the whole mysterious affair. But as she did not succeed, +she soon gave up thinking about it, and rejoiced at this comfortable +rest in the cool quiet of the woods after her quick walk. + +In the mean time her young mistress had hurried over the rest of the +way. The park in the rear of Rossel's little house appeared to be quite +empty and deserted, nor was any one to be seen at the windows. For a +moment she stood hesitating at the little wicket-gate before she could +muster up courage to lift the latch. Then she opened the gate quickly +and entered the little shady inclosure, through which wound a number of +well-swept gravel paths. + +But now, as she stepped out from among the pines, and saw before her +the flower-garden and the lawn, whose green turf extended to the +threshold of the house, she stopped in alarm, and would have given a +great deal could she have retired into the shadow again unobserved. For +right in front of her, in the midst of a clump of tall rosebushes from +which she was cutting the finest flowers for a bouquet, stood Zenz, who +recognized her at the first glance, and did not appear at all surprised +to meet the Fräulein here again, after the events of the day before. + +She gave Irene a good-natured and confidential nod, and said, without +waiting to be addressed: + +"You have come most likely to inquire after the Herr Baron--haven't +you, now? Well, I am much obliged for your kind inquiry; and he is +getting on just as well as ever as he can, the doctor says. Only he +must be kept very quiet and can't receive any visits from strangers. +That's the reason we carried him right off last evening into the studio +up there in the turret, where he can't hear a sound from the kitchen +and the rooms below; so that even when old Katie has one of her +tantrums, and storms and raves about, it won't disturb his peace at +all. But not a soul can go in to see him except Herr von Schnetz, Herr +Kohle, Herr Rossel--and I, of course, because I am his nurse. I have +just run down into the garden to cut him a few roses. It's a good thing +to have something pretty by a sick person's bed, so that it will please +him when he wakes up. Meantime Herr Kohle is sitting by him and looking +after the ice bandages." + +While she was prattling on in this _naïve_ strain, Irene had the +greatest difficulty in restraining her secret aversion toward the girl, +who innocently went on with her work; appearing quite a reputable +person, too, now that she was without her waitress's apron, and had her +red braids simply coiled around her head. + +"I wish to speak to Lieutenant von Schnetz a moment," replied Irene, in +the coldest possible tone, "since, as you say, he is not busy just now +in the sick chamber--" + +"The lieutenant? He is asleep. See, Fräulein, over there where the +curtains are let down. He has been lying there for the last two hours, +trying to make up a little bit for what he lost last night. Good +Heavens! What a fright we did have! and every one had more than his +hands full before we could get a decent bandage made, especially as old +Katie couldn't have been waked out of her sleep if the world had been +coming to an end. So I staid here, too, so that there might be some one +to wait on the gentlemen. There are so many things about which men +folks, even the very wisest of them, are as foolish as little children. +Isn't it so, Fräulein? And then--I couldn't bear to be anywhere else, +until I know that he is sure to get sound and well again. When people +have known each other as well as we two--and only to think that such a +thing as this could happen, and that a splendid handsome gentleman like +him should be almost stabbed to death just because of a poor girl like +me, and he quite innocent, too--" + +Irene had made a movement as though to leave the place as quickly as +possible. These last words made her think better of it. + +"Innocent?" she said, carelessly, without looking at Zenz. "Do you +know, then, how it all came about?" + +"To be sure I do," cried the girl, eagerly; "I was the cause of it all! +I wouldn't have anything to say to him, to Hiesl, I mean, and why +shouldn't I confess that I like the baron! There can't be a handsomer +or better man in the world, and when he smiles upon you, in his kind +way, you seem to feel it away down in your heart. And yet he isn't +proud at all, nor impudent and bad to a poor girl, like other young +gentlemen; it isn't any disgrace for me to like him better than a rough +fellow like Hiesl. Oh! Fräulein, I don't know how you feel about love, +or whether you have a sweetheart, but I--before I saw the Herr Baron +one man was just the same to me as another, and now it seems as if +there were only this one man under God's heaven; and whatever he says +and wants, that I must do, as if it were the Lord himself who ordered +me. But he--and you may believe this on my honor and as I hope to be +saved--he never thinks of such a thing. He knows well enough how I feel +toward him, but he never gives me a thought, and though I'm not pretty +I can't be so very ugly either. At all events if I wanted to I could +twist Herr Rossel round my little finger. But many thanks! I would +rather love one who doesn't care a bit about me, than be loved by one +that I don't like!" + +Meantime she had gone on tying up her bouquet, and now she held it up +with a bright laugh which showed all her white teeth. "Isn't it +beautiful?" she said. "But you won't even look at it, Fräulein. Don't +you like flowers?" + +Irene started out of a deep reverie. Her cheeks burned, and she +struggled vainly to maintain her reserve toward this girl, whose frank +and perfectly unselfish nature she could not help liking, do what she +would. + +"And you think it perfectly proper?" she managed at last to say. "It +never occurred to you that you are doing anything out of the way in +openly following into a strange house, where there are other men, some +one who does not care anything about you? Though, to be sure, what does +it matter to me what you do or don't do?" + +The girl let fall the hand that held the flowers, and gazed straight +into the eyes of this young preacher of morality, with an expression +that betrayed much more surprise than anger. + +"Run after him?" she repeated. "No, Fräulein, I should never think of +such a thing; that _would_ be stupid. For Black Theresa, where I used +to live, has often told me that men only like a poor girl so long as +they have to run after _her_. And because I didn't feel sure of myself, +and knew that if I lived in the same city with him I could not live +without seeing him and watching for him at the places where he usually +went--so that I should grow hateful to him at last, while now he is at +least kind to me--I came out here into the country and hired myself out +as a waiter-girl in the inn over yonder. But you see for yourself I was +not to get away from him; and now, when he lies at the point of death, +all along of a silly thing like me, and needs my help--no, Fräulein, I +didn't blame myself at all for having run after him, and I should +consider myself a very bad and heartless girl indeed, if I thought +anything about myself and what people might say. I would follow him +through a forest of wild beasts just to nurse him, and why not into a +house full of good friends of his, none of whom would bite me, just +because all have seen that I don't do it for love of them, but only for +the sake of him who doesn't care the least bit about me. There, now, +don't be angry with me for having told you this right out. I must go +back into the house and see whether Herr Kohle needs any fresh ice from +the cellar. Shall I give him any message from you; tell him that you +called, and hoped he would soon get well?" + +Irene had turned away. She felt herself so put to shame by the nature +of this girl, whom she had thought so far beneath her; her own behavior +looked so mean, narrow, and selfish reflected in the mirror of this +absolute, humble, joyful self-sacrifice, and the thought that she must +relinquish to another the place at his sick-bed so cut her to the heart +that she could not restrain her tears, and did not even think of trying +to hide her overflowing eyes from the astonished girl. + +"Go back to him and give him a message from me!--and nurse him--and--I +will come again--to-morrow, at this time--no one need know about it +besides yourself. What is your name?" + +"Crescenz. But they only call me Red Zenz." + +"Good-by, Crescenz--I did you wrong! You are a good girl--far, far +better than many others. Adieu!" + +She held out her hand to the bewildered girl, who was at a loss how to +reconcile the Fräulein's sudden kindness with her former coldness. Then +she turned hastily, and disappeared among the cedar-trees in the park. + +Shaking her head, Zenz stood gazing after her. + +"She is in love with him, too, that is certain!" she said to herself; +and then it occurred to her that Felix had immediately asked her about +this Fräulein, yesterday at the inn. In her thoughts she placed the two +side by side, and was forced to admit, with a quiet sigh, that they +looked as if they were made for one another. She did not trouble +herself particularly as to how far matters had gone between them. For +that matter she never had any thoughts for anything except what was +near at hand; and, as she looked at her bouquet and said to herself +that she should be praised for bringing it, her round face broke into a +smile again and she tripped gayly into the house. + +In the studio up-stairs, by the side of a low couch on which Felix was +lying in a feverish sleep, sat Fat Rossel, who seemed to have +completely shaken oft his indolence, now that he had to do with so +serious an affair. He had, it is true, had his American rocking-chair +brought upstairs, but otherwise he vied with his friends in performing +the duties of the sick-room. It is possible, too, that the proximity of +the girl, whose sudden appearance under his roof had made him very +thoughtful, had been instrumental in working this miracle. Not only the +sarcastic Schnetz, but even the innocent and artless Kohle, had been +struck, from the very first, by the respectful and almost chivalrous +manner with which he, usually so hard to move, bore himself toward the +girl, little grateful or susceptible as she showed herself for his +homage. She sought to be nothing in the house but an extra servant, and +conducted herself quietly and modestly toward old Katie; and it was +only when a question arose about the care of the wounded patient that +she expressed her opinion unasked. It was soon evident that, with all +her narrowness and her extremely limited education, she had a natural +preference for everything tasteful, convenient, and pleasant, so that +the little household ran like clockwork, and old Katie found no time to +grumble at the increase in the number of the family, but could give +herself up, just as before, to her quiet vice. + +Kohle stood at his easel. In spite of the excitement of an almost +sleepless night, his tireless fancy still kept on working, and he was +engaged at this moment in transferring the little sketch of the second +picture to a sheet of the size of the first completed cartoon. + +"You are, and always will be, a confirmed idealist," said Rossel, in a +low tone, without raising his eyes from Felix's sleeping figure. +"Instead of taking advantage of the opportunity and making some +splendid studies from real life here, you quietly work away at your +fables and turn your back on this fine specimen of Nature." + +"I merely want to sketch in the outlines of the figures," the artist +responded. "It flashed across me, early this morning, to try whether +they will do on a large scale as well as in the sketch. I think, after +all, I shall have to shift this central group a little more to the +left, so as to give the whole more symmetry." + +"Any stranger hearing you talk in this way, Kohle, my boy, would +suppose you were such an unsympathetic art-machine that even in the +midst of murder and violence you could think of nothing but your Venus. +But I know that with you it is merely an unconscious way of keeping up +your heart, just as Schnetz drank a glass of schnapps and I smoked a +chibouque after the first pull was over. Every one has a specific by +which he swears, and yours, moreover, is one of the sort that never +runs dry. But now, just come here and take a look at this model. After +all, these aristocratic families now and then produce some fine +specimens, turned out after the true _noblesse oblige_ principle. What +a neck and shoulders this youngster has! And just see, Kohle, how the +biceps stands out through his tight-fitting shirt-sleeves. A young +Achilles, _corpo di Bacco!_ Upon my word I should just like, now, in +this soft evening light, if I only had colors and canvas--" + +"I can help you out with those," interrupted Kohle, also speaking in a +carefully suppressed voice. "I provided myself with a palette only +yesterday--old Katie wants to have her portrait painted for her +grandchild--I think the canvas--" + +"Don't bother yourself about it, my good fellow. Perhaps, after all, it +is more sensible of me to study him with my eyes. But look, he tosses +about so often! And now again, it's fine the way the forehead is +rounded out, and then the splendid form of the brows. No wonder he has +good luck with the women; and that even that witch Zenz, who, as a +general thing, is as unapproachable as you please, runs after this fine +fellow like Kätchen von Heilbronn. I only wish--" + +At this moment the door opened, and she of whom he was speaking stole +in on tiptoe with her bouquet. But, light as her step was, it seemed to +have awakened the sleeper. He groaned slightly, threw his right arm +above his head and then slowly opened his eyes. + +"Beautiful flowers!" he murmured. "Good-morning! How goes it!--how is +art getting on?" + +Then, without waiting for an answer, and as if he were recalling to his +mind a face that had appeared to him in his dreams, he said: + +"I only wish I knew--whether it were really she. Has any one--asked +after me?" + +Zenz approached softly and held the bouquet before him, so that his +pale face blushed from the reflection of the dark roses, and said, in a +whisper: + +"I have a message for you from the beautiful Fräulein; she was down in +the garden to inquire after you, and she hopes you will soon be well +again. Oh, you know who I mean! The one over yonder, who didn't want to +dance with the rest." + +His eyes still rested on the bouquet; the words that he heard overcame +him with such happiness and bliss that he believed he was still +dreaming. By a powerful effort he raised his head a little, so as to +hide his burning face in the flowers. "Zenz," he said, "is that--really +true?" + +"As true as I live; and she even began to cry at last, so that I felt +sorry for her myself, although--" + +A smile passed over the sick man's lips. He tried to speak, but his +emotion had been too violent. A dizziness overcame him, and, with a +gentle sigh, which did not sound like a sigh of pain, he closed his +eyes and immediately sunk back into a quiet slumber. + + + + + + _BOOK V_. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +On a pleasant afternoon, a few days later, Jansen, Julie, and Angelica +started from the city for the Starnberg villa. + +The drive was silent and sad, for Jansen had been deeply moved by what +had happened, and Julie's heart was full of sympathy for his anxiety. +To the disappointment of all, when they reached Rossel's house, that +worthy met them with a grave face and reported that the doctor had +ordered absolute quiet, and had forbidden all exciting visits. He led +the ladies into the little _salon_ and had some refreshments brought by +Zenz, who opened her eyes wide at Julie in unconcealed admiration. But +they were none of them in a mood to taste anything. They waited with +beating hearts to hear what news Jansen would bring back, for nothing +could dissuade him from going up to the sick man's room. + +Felix lay as before in a half-sleeping state, so that Schnetz, whose +watch it happened to be, thought it would do no harm to admit his +friend. But they merely greeted one another with a silent nod. Then the +sculptor stepped up to the sick-bed of his Icarus, and, turning his +head away from the others, stood there motionless for full ten minutes. +Schnetz, who had seated himself again on the stool before the easel and +was cutting out a silhouette, noticed that a trembling, like that of +suppressed sobs, shook Jansen's massive frame. He was surprised at +this, for he did not know in what intimate relations the two had stood +to one another. + +"There is no danger," he said, in a low voice; "a few weeks and he will +be able to mount his horse again. How he will get on with his modeling +is not so certain. That cut over the right hand was very heavy. But I +imagine that will be your least sorrow." + +The sculptor did not answer. + +But the wounded man seemed to have caught a word or two of what Schnetz +had whispered. He slowly opened his heavy, feverish eyes, and, with a +dreamy smile that gave a sweet, arch look to his pale face, he +muttered: + +"Sorrow!--why should any one be sorry? The world is so beautiful--even +pain does one good. No, no, we will laugh--laugh--and drink to the +health--" + +He made a movement, and the piercing pain it caused him roused him +thoroughly. He recognized the silent figure at his bedside. + +"Hans, my old Dædalus!" he cried, making a motion of his hand toward +his friend, "is it you? Good!--this is capital! This gives me more +pleasure--than I can tell you! Have you left your Paradise to come out +here? Oh, if you knew--you see I must not talk much--I could not, even +if I would--else--Heavens! what things--I should have to tell you! And +you me, wouldn't you, old boy? Between ourselves, it wasn't just as it +should have been--we knew almost nothing at all about one another--you +had your head full, and I too. But now, as soon as I am able to talk +again--you know that no human being is what you are to me--except +one--except one--and even she--" + +Schnetz rose with considerable noise, stepped up to the bed, and said: +"Fresh ice is of more account just now than warm old friendship. So +stop a bit!" + +He made a sign to Jansen to go out without waiting to take leave, and +then busied himself about his nurse's duties, while Felix's looks and +words soon grew confused again. + +It was some time before Jansen returned to the ladies, who had been +carrying on a rather monosyllabic conversation with the master of the +house. Julie saw at once from her lover's face how much this meeting +with his sick friend had moved him. She offered to remain out here with +Angelica, in the house, or at least in the neighborhood, so as to +lighten the duties of the men as much as possible. "Let us stay, my +dear Herr Rossel," she entreated; "we shall have no difficulty in +finding a room somewhere in the neighborhood. Angelica will make flower +studies, and I will rip cloth for bandages, and pick lint. A woman +without talents, like myself, is invaluable at such a time." + +Rossel declined all these proposals, nor would he hear of such a thing +as Jansen's staying to assist them. They three sufficed to do anything +that men could do. And the female department was also in the best of +hands. Then he began to expatiate with much warmth upon the tireless +energy and willingness of Red Zenz, who had not returned to the +_salon_, saying he thought he owed it to the good child not to hurt her +feelings by accepting any other help than hers and that of his old +house-keeper. In spite of their wish the friends had to yield; but they +made him promise, at parting, that he would send for them at once in +case the duties became more onerous, or he should find they had not +force enough. + +In addition to this, Kohle promised to send them news daily. + +One other subject came up for discussion during this visit. Even in the +first excitement, Schnetz had urged that they should report the affair, +and have Hiesl, the murderous boatman, handed over to the courts. The +latter had the audacity to go about in Starnberg, and to work at his +calling, as if nothing had happened; indeed, he was reported to have +boasted of the whole affair, and to have said: "I hope I have spoiled +the honorable gentleman's sport for a few weeks, at least." This +cold-blooded, triumphant defiance enraged the lieutenant, and he would +have liked to give the fellow a good lesson. Rossel, however, opposed +this--chiefly in order to spare Zenz, who would undoubtedly be summoned +as a witness, and have to go before a jury. Jansen sided with him, +because he was convinced that it would go against his friend's nature +to see any man--however loath he might be to regard him as a worthy +antagonist--with whom he had fought man to man, accused as a criminal, +and made to suffer punishment through any act of his. As Kohle, +likewise, inclined to this view of the case, it was decided not only to +do nothing about the matter for the present, but also to avoid, if +possible, any independent interference on the part of justice. + +The friends soon after took their leave, all deeply impressed by the +gravity of the patient's case and by their visit. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + +But there was one of their traveling-companions who remained behind at +the villa. It is needless to say that Homo accompanied them on their +visit to his sick friend, not traveling, of course, as others of his +race do, in the low compartment reserved for dogs--but in a _coupé_ +with his master and the ladies; for everybody knew him, and esteemed +him highly for his superior traits of character. At the last station he +found it too close for him in the narrow compartment. He escaped into +the open air, and bounded along by the side of the train for the rest +of the way. But as he had gotten out of the habit of taking such +youthful runs, and as the way was hot, he made the remaining part +of the journey--from Starnberg to Rossel's villa--at a snail's +pace, and with hanging head and thirsty tongue. Upon reaching the +sick-chamber--after having greeted the wounded Felix with a low, +half-angry, half-mournful howl--he stretched himself out at the foot of +the bed, and nothing could induce him to forsake his resting-place when +Jansen took his leave. He pretended to be asleep, and the friends were +too much accustomed to respect him as an independent, intelligent being +to disturb his rest. + +Then, too, he conducted himself; after he had recovered his strength, +with exceeding tact and modesty; demanded no particular care or +attention from anybody, for he evidently saw that they had little time +to spare for him, and accepted with a good grace whatever fell to his +share. He would have been much better provided for down-stairs in the +kitchen, but he evidently thought it would be selfish for him to leave +his place at the sick-bed for the sake of a better meal, and he passed +the greater part of the day at the patient's side; for Felix loved to +pass his heavy hand, half in a dream, over his back, and when he was +awake to address all sorts of caressing speeches to him. + +At other times the sick man let his dim, feverish eyes rove about the +studio; examined Kohle's cartoon, which was slowly making progress, +nodded gratefully and contentedly to his silent watchers--to whichever +one happened to be on post at the moment--and then sunk back again into +a refreshing slumber, often with a name on his lips which none of his +attendants understood. + +The possessor of this name had not appeared in the garden again since +that first visit. Her uncle, on the other hand, rode by daily, drew up +at the gate whenever there happened to be any one within hail, or else +dismounted and, after tying his horse, went into the house, to inquire +about the invalid. This did not excite remark, for he was an old +acquaintance of the lieutenant, and his niece had made one at the fatal +water-party. Zenz, alone, although as a rule little given to pondering, +had her own thoughts in regard to the interest which uncle and niece +took in an utter stranger, and they only tended to confirm her former +surmises. + +The reports from the sick-chamber were not the most favorable that +could have been wished. The healing of the wound in the shoulder went +on, it is true, without interruption--but slowly, on account of the +restlessness and feverishness of the patient. On the following Sunday, +when Jansen came out again with Rosenbusch and the actor, the fever +had, indeed, disappeared; but even now the visits to the sick man were +not allowed to last more than ten minutes, for the physician had +strictly forbidden all conversation until the wound in the lung should +have completely healed. Rosenbusch's offer to relieve Schnetz was +declined--greatly to his sorrow, which was only partially relieved by +Felix begging him to play his flute for a little while in the garden +under the window. Of Elfinger's proposal to read aloud to him, he +promised to take advantage later. He showed constantly how happy the +devoted care of his friends made him, and held the hand of his +"Dædalus" tightly clasped in his own during the whole of the visit, +with a tenderness such as he rarely exhibited before others. + +Homo was to have returned with the three visitors, but even now he +could not be induced to do so. + +On the day after this second visit Kohle was standing down-stair in the +dining-room at a time which, according to the orders of the day, he +should have devoted to sleep to strengthen himself for his night-watch. +But he could find no rest until he finally put his hand to the work +that burned within his soul. Although the walls had not yet been +prepared for frescoing, but still wore their old stone-gray tint, he +had, by way of experiment, set to work to draw with charcoal an +architectural frame for his cycle of pictures--a row of round-arched +arcades with sturdy Romanesque pillars, resting upon bases connected by +a plain foundation. There were just the same number of arches as the +Venus legend contained separate scenes, and the panels in the spandrils +over the pillars were to contain the portraits of the friends who had +assembled under this roof. This portrait-gallery was begun with the +beautiful head of Jansen's betrothed, who was certainly well fitted to +contest the first rank with Dame Venus (as the latter had been depicted +by Kohle's fancy, at least), while at the end of the row, the round, +good-natured face of Angelica, with its merry, flowing curls, peered +forth in all its plainness. Zenz and old Katie were to be immortalized +among the people in the convents. + +Kohle had traced the outlines of the decoration with a bold hand, and +had even allowed himself to be so carried away by his delight as to +begin to fill in the first panel with its whole sketch; for he was +anxious to convince the ever skeptical and critical Rossel how +excellently it would fit into the space allotted to it. But he was +suddenly interrupted by an unexpected visit. + +In looking back to that first evening in Paradise, the indulgent reader +may perhaps find some difficulty in recalling a modest figure that took +small part in the bacchanalian excitement of the younger members, and +made no noise himself. But, even if the old man with the calm face and +snow-white hair should be still unforgotten, the figure that now came +tottering into the little hall with unsteady walk, agitated face, and +an old straw hat stuck on the side of his head like a drunken man's, +would find no recognition. + +"For God's sake, Herr Schoepf, what's happened to you?" cried the +painter, as he threw aside his crayon. "You look terribly! Do tell +me--" + +The old man threw himself on the nearest divan, and gasped as though +compelled to draw his breath from some deep well. + +"Is it you, Herr Kohle?" he finally stammered out with much difficulty; +"I sincerely beg your forgiveness for bursting in on you in this way, +without being announced--but don't let me disturb you. Once more I beg +you to excuse me; but there are times when all one's good manners--no, +no, I won't drink anything," he cried, interrupting himself, for he saw +that Kohle had reached out his hand for the bottle of sherry that had +been left from breakfast and still stood on the table--"not a drop, +Herr Kohle--Oh, God! who would have imagined it!" + +He sank back on the sofa again after an unsuccessful attempt to rise, +and muttered unintelligibly to himself, as old people so often do. + +The painter was greatly shocked. He had always honored this old +gentleman as a very model of cheerful equanimity and clear-headedness; +and in many of his professional or personal troubles he had often felt +disposed to go and ask his advice, which he always gave with great +wisdom and gentleness. And now Kohle saw him sitting there helpless and +unmanned, like a night-bird that has lost its way in the daylight, and +closes its eyes and tries to shrink into itself. + +But, at last, the old man appeared to rouse himself by a powerful +effort; he opened his eyes wide and attempted to smooth his withered, +faded face, fringed with a gray stubble, into the old kindly lines, +only succeeding, however, in producing a kind of grin, something +between laughing and weeping. + +"My dear Herr Kohle," he said, "I must seem to you like a madman; but, +if you knew all, you would easily understand why my old brain has been +thrown a little off its balance. And you shall know all about it some +day; but now--don't be offended with me--you are so much younger, it +would be very hard for me to tell you everything. Oblige me by calling +the lieutenant--he has had more experience--or no, you are at your +work, tell me where I can find Herr von Schnetz. I don't wish to +disturb you--" + +At this moment he of whom they had been speaking came into the room, +and was, in his turn, not a little amazed when he saw the state his old +friend was in. Kohle left the two alone. In spite of his fever for +work, he could not find it in his heart to lead the exhausted old man +into another apartment. + +The latter did not appear to notice his absence. He had not yet let go +of the hand Schnetz had offered him, as if, in his agitation, he found +it necessary to cling to some support. Notwithstanding his benevolent +feelings toward those younger than himself, he was, as a general thing, +a man of rather reserved manners, and not particularly lavish of signs +of confidence and familiarity. + +"My good friend," he said, "be lenient toward me, and listen patiently +without interrupting me. For in order to help me you must know my whole +sad history, and I can only tell it when I can almost forget that there +is any one listening. Sit down here by my side. And now, listen while I +tell you something that has not passed my lips for twenty years. + +"I was once a very different man from what I now appear to you; not +simply that I was younger and better contented, and had not known what +true misfortune was; but I bore another name, which may possibly have +reached your ears. For although I cannot say that I exactly raised it +to any particular fame, still, as a born Municher, you have probably +heard it mentioned among those who assisted at the art-works of the +early part of old Louis's reign, though; to be sure, only as a young +apprentice. Even in those days I was not possessed by the demon of +ambition, and on the pictures that I painted, as well as on the +frescoes that I helped to execute, you will not find even my monogram. +From the very first, I had too great a respect for true genius to form +an exalted idea of my own humble qualifications for an artist. By the +side of my master, Cornelius, I felt like the sparrow that soared up to +the sun under the eagle's wing, and was permitted to enjoy himself +royally up there so long as he did not forget that he was, after all, +only an insignificant sparrow. However, I was always bent upon letting +well enough alone, and consoled myself with the thought that, even if I +did possess but a mediocre talent for creative art, I could vie with +the greatest masters in the art of living. + +"I had a pretty, gentle, sensible wife, two children, who were growing +up finely, as much money as I wanted, and more honor than I deserved. +For in those days all of us here in Munich were like members of one +family, or like soldiers in a _corps élite_--whatever fame was won by +the leaders redounded to the benefit of us privates. + +"It was a life which seemed to leave nothing wanting to its happiness, +and I began to take credit to myself for the many blessings Heaven had +poured into my lap. I deluded myself with the idea that although I was +not phenomenal as a man or as an artist, I was, on the other hand, +something no less rare--a perfectly normal citizen of the world, a +truly model specimen of honesty and excellence, especially selected by +fate to be a source of joy and imitation for less favored mortals. My +good wife, too, who did not at first chime in with my lofty tone, was +gradually converted to this state of self-exaltation, until she came to +believe that not a single flaw could be found in her husband, her +children, her friends, her home life, or even in her pets. + +"I will not recount to you the ridiculous details of our pride and +self-complacency. Enough! This audacious structure of conceit and +Phariseeism received a blow one day that sent it tumbling in hopeless +ruin about our heads. One evening, quite late, while I was sitting on +my scaffolding in the palace, painting, my wife tottered up the steps +looking like a picture of despair. She had not even stopped to reflect +whether there were others about us who might overhear our conversation; +her horror at the terrible discovery had so unbalanced her clear mind +that she could not wait until I came home, but ran into a public +building after me to tell me that our daughter--the only child we had, +besides a fine, sturdy boy--a girl on whom I had lavished all my +fatherly pride--that she, our jewel, so loved and treasured-- But I +must retrace my steps a little, so that you may understand all this. + +"About this time my wife having come into possession of a very +considerable fortune, we had begun, contrary to the Munich custom, to +keep open house. As model beings, for such we fancied ourselves to be, +we even regarded it as a sort of duty not to hide our light under +a bushel. And then, besides, it was a pleasant enough thing to +do, and even now I can't condemn our having rebelled against the +narrow-hearted, inhospitable custom of the place, and admitted all +manner of good friends to enjoy our domestic happiness with us. But +even here our pride in our daughter played an important _rôle_. The +girl was not beautiful, nor even what one would generally call pretty; +she had inherited my flat features, little eyes, and large mouth. But +something sparkled in those eyes that attracted everybody; and when the +large red mouth, with its white teeth, expanded in a laugh that seemed +to come straight from the heart, it was impossible to help feeling +merry too. She had a remarkable talent for communicating her high +spirits to her circle of young people, and this mirthfulness often +reached the wildest extravagance; though, with her, it never went +beyond proper limits, so that I, in my blind adoration, was wont to say +to my wife, when she occasionally shook her head over it: 'Let the +child alone, her nature will protect her better than all our art.' + +"I knew that others thought differently; indeed, I was often obliged to +listen to warnings, more or less distinct, from this or that friend, to +draw the reins tighter; a young untamed thing like her would be sure to +bolt some day or other. For hints like these I had always the same +superior smile, and only told my wife of them that I might laugh at the +Philistinism of my colleagues. + +"The daughter of such a thoroughly well-balanced person, surely one +could confidently leave her to herself, in cases where there would have +been danger for weaker natures. + +"And now came the discovery of our shame! Now came the fearful fall +from that height to which we had soared in our dreams! + +"Any other man would have turned his eyes inward, would, before all +else, have taken himself to task and looked upon the sad and terrible +occurrence as a just chastisement of his foolish blindness. But this +model man was superior to all such weaknesses. Oh, my good friend, it +is not true what philosophy teaches, that the real nature of a man +cannot be changed; that it is only his outward conduct that gradually +gains a certain power of habit over the true character of the +individual. I know this by bitter experience; of that fool who drove +his poor child from his home in her shame and misery and forbade her +ever to come in his sight again; of that childish and cruel father +there is not a vestige left in me--so little that I can search my +nature for it as much as I will. With all my other faults and human +weaknesses, it is absolutely incomprehensible to me how I could ever +have torn my poor flesh and blood from me, and cast it forth into the +outside world. + +"The child bore herself far better and more nobly than her parents. She +declared decidedly that having, as she found to her sorrow, forfeited +forever the love of father and mother by her weakness, she would no +longer accept anything from their bounty. We thought this was merely a +fine phrase. But we soon learned how seriously she had meant what she +said. The poor girl suddenly disappeared from our house and the +city--and probably from the country--for all our efforts to find her +were without result. + +"She had persistently refused to give the name of her betrayer, and we +were either compelled or tempted to suspect every friend who had been +intimate at our house; so that, although appearances were kept up for a +while longer, and a plausible pretext was found for the disappearance +of our daughter, our domestic bliss was ended at a blow, and soon +vanished utterly. She who had given, life and charm to the most +trifling domestic pleasures was wanting. + +"But we had not yet reached the end of our sorrows; our son, too, was +to be taken from us. He studied medicine---a quiet, steady, and, to all +appearances, a somewhat phlegmatic man; but he had an exceptionally +keen sense of honor. When his sister did not return, this and that +began to be gossiped about her. The slightest allusion, often a +perfectly innocent speech, would throw him into a state of furious +anger. It was some remark of this sort that had as its sequel a duel +between him and his best friend. They bore the last joy of our life, +bathed in bloody back into our wretched home. + +"And now the floodgates were opened. It was all over with our model +household. It came out why our daughter had been driven to misery and +our son to death. Our friends could not help assuming a certain air of +pity toward us, that broke my wife's heart and drove me from the city. +I went to North Germany, and there I buried my wife a year later. Soon +after I gave up painting. I looked upon engraving, with all its +drudgery, as an instrument of chastisement--as a mode of daily forcing +down my pride. My dishonored name had become hateful to me, and I had +laid it aside when I left Bavaria, But I did not neglect to have an +appeal to my outcast child inserted in all the newspapers, begging her +to return to her solitary father, to forgive him, and to help him bear +his remaining years of life. + +"No answer ever came, although I continued to have the notice inserted +for many years. + +"At last I became thoroughly convinced that she was no longer in this +world; and no sooner did this belief, which it had taken ten years to +beat into my head, become a settled conviction, than a singular +transformation took place in me. I grew calm again, after all my +wretched experiences, and at peace with myself; there were times when I +had difficulty in recognizing in my present self the man whose guilt +and foolishness had worked so much misery. I succeeded so well in +outliving my old nature, in working a complete regeneration of my inner +man, that I actually felt something like curiosity to see the city in +which my predecessor had suffered so much sorrow and shame. + +"And so, one day, I came back to Munich, though I scarcely knew it +again, for everything at whose birth I had assisted was now completed, +and besides a new world had sprung up. Nor did the old city recognize +me either. I had grown a white-headed, quiet, solitary man, bore +another name, and lived like a hermit--never going out during the day, +unless, perhaps, to visit the studio of one of the younger artists who +had settled here since my day. It has sometimes happened that I have +found myself in a beer-garden seated next to some boon companion of the +days of my prosperity, who had no idea who the silent old man was who +was eating and drinking at the same table with him. + +"And this is the way I have gone on for six or seven years, counting +myself always among the departed spirits, and sometimes startled at the +sight of my own face if I chanced to catch a glimpse of it in the +mirror. It is incredible, my dear friend, how tough the thread of life +is sometimes. For really had it not been for my interest in art, and in +some good young friends who have shown me confidence and respect, the +whole world would have been a blank to me. Besides, when photography +came into such general use, it seemed to me that my graver was a very +superfluous sort of thing, of little further use except to multiply +copies of business cards, labels on wine-bottles, and other things of +that sort. + +"So I continued to grow more idle, more contemplative, and, if you +like, wiser; except that I myself felt little respect, and sometimes +even disgust and loathing, for any wisdom that could haunt such a +useless wreck of a man." + +The old man spoke these last words in such a mournful voice, and hung +his head so low upon his breast, that Schnetz could not help feeling +the warmest pity for him. At the same time he asked himself with +amazement how it could have been possible for them all to have +associated with this terribly-tried man for so many long years without +having taken the trouble to find out anything about his history. + +He now bluntly said as much, inveighing in his bitter way against the +wretched state of society in which they lived. + +"A fine Paradise!" he growled out, half to himself. "We have a great +idea of how necessary we are to one another, and yet the few fellow-men +who are worth troubling ourselves about stand in no nearer relation to +us than the wild animals did to our first parents. Though, to be sure, +in your case we ought not to bear the chief blame. Why did you yourself +never feel a desire to break the ice between us? It would have been a +healthier thing for you, if you had long ago formed an intimacy with +one of us." + +The old man raised his head again, but still kept his eyes shut tight, +and groped blindly for Schnetz's hand, which he pressed warmly. + +"Perhaps it is not yet too late," he stammered, in a trembling voice. +"I hope it may still be in your power to assist me in finding a place +in life again. + +"One morning about a fortnight ago a little sealed packet was brought +to me by a street messenger. It bore no address, but when I saw the +seal I felt a terrible shock. I recognized it as one I had once given +to my daughter--a cornelian, in which was cut an Egyptian scarabæus. I +asked the man who had given it to him. A girl, he said, who had given +him an exact description of my lodging and appearance; and she had also +known my name--my present one--which I have no reason to suppose my +lost daughter had ever even heard of. I was so beside myself with +alarm, joy, and a thousand indescribable sensations that I did not +break the seal at first; only one thing seemed clear to me in my +confusion--before all else I must find the person who had sent the +messenger. Did he know where she was to be found? I asked. But she had +engaged him in the street, had paid in advance, and had then +immediately disappeared round the next corner. And then he described +her! It was my lost one, feature for feature, and yet it could not be +she herself, for this one must have been about as old as my daughter +was when I cast her off. So it must be the _child_ of my lost darling! +And to think that she, too, should flee from me like her poor mother! + +"At last I tore the string off the packet, and there fell out a letter +and two small pictures--daguerreotypes, such as they used in those days +to take on silvered plates--one of them a picture of her mother, the +only thing she had taken away with her from her home, the other a young +man whose face I had great difficulty in recalling. + +"The letter had been written several years before. Only in case of her +death was it to come into my hands, she wrote in the very first lines. +She had always been a proud child, and guilt and want and her sad life +had not changed her. Yet there was a loving, tender tone in her words, +a spirit of parting that softens even the hardest and most bitter +natures; and as I read her simple confession, in which she accused +herself of having robbed me of my happiness and ruined my life--of +having offended me beyond forgiveness--it seemed as if my heart would +burst. She could never prevail upon herself to return to me; at first +from fear that I would renounce her a second time, and later, because +she did not want to become a fresh burden to me. She knew that I had +taken another name, and was living in the strictest seclusion. If she +should suddenly appear with her child, it might not be convenient for +me. But, when she should be no more--and this must be soon, for her +lungs grew weaker every day--she begged me not to let the child suffer +for the wrong her mother had done me. It was a good child, unspoiled as +yet, but with little sense and very giddy. She needed a father's hand +to guide her through her years of danger. She had appealed in vain to +the child's father in the first years after his desertion of her. But, +when no answer came, she had taken an oath that he should be dead to +her forever. She had found no difficulty in keeping it, for she hated +him now as much as she had once loved him. + +"For the child's sake she would now speak his name for the first time +in eighteen years, so that if he should still be alive her father might +call him to account and force him to make provision for his orphaned +daughter. + +"And then followed a short word of farewell and the name of my child, +and beside it in brackets that of her betrayer, which was also on the +back of the daguerreotype, where, with his own hand, he had written +some words of presentation to my daughter. + +"Give me a glass of water, my dear friend. My tongue cleaves to the +roof of my mouth, as if I had swallowed the dust of a whole graveyard! +So--thank you--and now I shall soon have done. + +"For I shall take good care not to tell you how I have spent my time +since the receipt of this legacy. I sometimes realized myself how much +like a madman I must have looked as I rushed about the streets, at all +hours of the day and night, peering under the hats of all the young +girls, and forcing my way into the houses wherever I caught the +faintest glimpse of red hair at the window." + +"Holy Moses!" interrupted Schnetz, springing up and pacing the hall +with long strides, all the while furiously twisting at his imperial. +"Why didn't you tell us this before? Why, it must be our Zenz!" + +The old man bowed his head with a sigh. + +"I first learned it, or rather guessed it, yesterday, when I happened +to meet Herr Rosenbusch, and he told me of all that had happened here. +It came upon me like a flash; this red-haired servant and my +granddaughter, who felt so little desire to know the grandfather who +had cast off her mother, are one and the same person. I could hardly +wait for the morning before coming here and clasping to my heart the +one thing that still belongs to me in this world. But as I entered the +park a short time ago, my knees scarcely able to carry me from +excitement, and saw from a distance, through the branches, the red hair +and the round face with the red lips and the short nose--she stood in +the very centre of the lawn raking together the new-mown hay--I stepped +up to her and cried, 'Don't you know me, Zenz?' + +"And then, instead of throwing herself into my outstretched arms, she +gave a cry, as if a wild beast were upon her, and started off down the +garden as fast as she could run, and I after her, pursuing her around +the lawn and shouting out the most heart-rending words and entreaties, +until she saw her chance, pushed open the gate and escaped from me into +the road. + +"In spite of my sixty years I am no crippled invalid, my dear friend, +and in the midst of all my wretchedness and grief my anger at this +futile and ridiculous chase, after a foolish thing who refused to +understand how well I meant by her, got the better of me, and I put +forth all my strength to overtake her. But the foolish thing sped away +from me, as blind and deaf as if death itself were at her heels. I +believe she would have thrown herself under the wheels of the +locomotive that was approaching rather than have me catch her. + +"Then, all of a sudden, I felt shocked at this unconquerable fear and +loathing in so young a heart, and stood still and called to her to have +no fear--that I gave it up. And then, when I saw her flee into the +thick wood to the right, I faced about and dragged myself back to the +villa. For the first time I realized how my limbs shook, and what a +miserable figure I should cut in your eyes. But you are old enough, +Herr von Schnetz, to no longer feel amazed at any fate, however sad and +strange, that may befall a man. I felt I could tell you all this; and +now I have come to the end of my foolishness and of my wisdom. For, +after what I have just experienced, I can scarcely hope ever again to +approach the legacy left me by my poor daughter. I have become a +scarecrow; the warm nest I would offer to the child seems more terrible +to her than the haystack or fence under which she can crouch for a few +nights, before starting off upon her wanderings again." + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + +Schnetz, who all this time had never ceased to stride up and down the +room, now stepped up to the old man. + +"Sit still where you are, Herr Schoepf," he said. "Stay here where it +is cool until you are thoroughly rested. Meantime I will go and find +the girl, and talk to her. She has a liking for me, possibly because I +have never tried to win her favor." + +With these words he left the old gentleman. He first searched through +the house and garden after the frightened bird, but finally had to make +up his mind to go into the wood after her. + +After much unsuccessful searching and calling, he finally saw her white +face and red hair shimmering from out the green shadows, in a little +cleared spot on the gentle slope of the grove, from which she could +command a view of the entrance of the park. + +"What a trouble you are making, Zenz!" he shouted to her. "What are you +running about in the lonely wood for all the forenoon, when there is +enough to be done in the house? Old Katie has worked as hard to find +you as if you had been a needle in a haystack." + +The girl had hastily sprung from the mossy seat on which she had been +crouching, and seemed to be holding herself in readiness to dart away. +Her round cheeks had suddenly flushed crimson. + +"Is he still there?" she asked. + +"Who? Don't be so childish, Zenz. The idea of running away from a good +old man, as if he were Satan himself!" + +"I won't go home till he has gone," she said, with a defiant shake of +her head. "I know what he wants. He wants to lock me up in his hateful, +lonely house, where no sun or air gets in. But I have never done him +any wrong, and I won't go--I won't bear it--I'd rather have him kill me +right here." + +"You're out of your senses, girl! Do you know him? What do you know +about him?" + +She did not answer immediately. He saw how wildly her young breast +heaved, how her eyes were fixed on the ground, and how her teeth bit +the little twig she held in her hand. + +"He is the father of my mother!" she finally burst out, her face taking +on a look of intense hatred. "He drove my poor dear mother out of his +house because of me--that is, before I ever came into the world. Oh, he +is so stern! My mother never dared to go back to him as long as she +lived. Then, when she was going to die, she wrote a letter to her +father asking him to take care of me, and she made me promise by all +that was holy to carry this letter to my grandfather as soon as she was +dead; and I promised I would, though I never could get up much love for +him, and no one can blame me for it either. But, when I came to Munich, +I felt terribly forlorn and forsaken at first, for I didn't know a +soul, and I thought to myself I'll just take a look at him and see what +he's like. So I waited in front of his house, with my packet in my +pocket, until he went out in the evening. I tell you truly, Herr +Lieutenant, I was so miserable and unhappy that even if he had only +looked just the least bit kind I would have been very glad to go up and +say to him: 'I am Zenz; people say I am the very image of my poor dear +mother, and my dear mother was your daughter, and now she is dead and +sends you this letter!' But when he came out of his house so stern and +still, and looked neither to the right or left, but only stared at the +ground, just as if he didn't care anything at all for the dear world +all about him--hu! it made my flesh creep! Nothing in the world shall +ever force me to have anything to do with him, thought I to myself; and +I let him go by as if he had been a perfect stranger. Still, I thought +I would leave the letter for him, so I made some inquiries about him of +his landlady; And I heard from her that he hides in his lodgings like +an owl in a hollow tree; no one comes to see him, and he goes to see +nobody; he gets no letters and he writes none. There was a little +looking-glass hanging in the landlady's room, and I happened to see my +face in it, and it looked to me as if I had an ashy-gray skin and faded +hair. I think most likely the glass was colored blue, but for all that +I felt as if it was warning me--'This is the way you'll look before +long, if you shut yourself up with your grandfather in his dark den +where no sunbeam will ever reach you.' So I went away and took good +care not to deliver my packet, for it might have betrayed me. And that +very same evening I got acquainted with Black Pepi, and went to live +with her, and never sent him my poor, dear mother's packet until I went +into the country. But how he found out where I was, or what he wants of +me--for he must have the sense to see that I don't want to have +anything to do with him--I--" + +"Zenz," interrupted the lieutenant, "be a sensible girl, and at least +get acquainted with your only relation before you rebel against your +mother's last wish. I can assure you you wouldn't have any fault to +find with him; and if he should treat you like a prisoner or try to +coerce you in any way--are not your old friends at hand? Do you suppose +that Herr Rossel, or the baron, or I myself, would suffer any one to +ill-treat our little Zenz? If you could only hear the old gentleman +talk, and see how sorry he is for all he did and did not do for his +daughter, and how anxious he is to atone for it to his grandchild! No, +Zenz, you are too sensible a girl to be so childishly frightened by the +spectres your own imagination has called up. And, besides, what do you +think is going to become of you when the summer is over and we all go +back into the city again?" + +He waited a moment for her answer. But as none came, and she seemed to +be lost in thought, he drew a step nearer, and, taking one of her +hands, said, in his truehearted way: + +"I know what you are thinking, my child. You are in love with the +baron, and you are thinking you will remain near him as long as it is +possible, and then perhaps he will love you in return; and you have no +thought for anything else. But you ought also to tell yourself how +miserably it must all end at last. He won't marry you--you must make up +your mind to that--and what will be the upshot of such an unhappy love +you have seen, unfortunately, in the case of your poor mother." + +She withdrew her hand from his; but looked at him quietly, and almost +with something of her old light-heartedness. + +"You mean well by me, sir," she said. "But I am not so foolish as I may +look. I never imagined for a moment that he would marry me; he wouldn't +even love me, no, not if I had saved his life and should be near him +ever so long. He loves some one else--I know that for certain--and I +don't blame him for it a bit, and if I choose to go on liking him, in +spite of all that, it is my affair, and nothing that anybody says will +make any difference. Until he is well again, and can get up and go +about, I am going to stay out here; and no one knows better than you +that I don't eat my bread in idleness, and that you are not able to get +along without me. Just tell this to my--to the old gentleman; and as to +what may happen afterward, why, that is something none of us can tell +yet. But I won't let myself be caught, and if he should use force--I +would jump into the lake sooner than let myself be made a slave of!" + +She turned sharply on her heel and began very calmly to walk up the +hill, no longer as if to flee, but merely because she had spoken her +last word. Schnetz had always had a secret liking for her, though he +had no very high opinion of her understanding or her virtue. But he +could not help feeling a certain respect for her as she had just shown +herself to him. + +"She knows what she wants, at all events," he growled, "and won't allow +herself to be deceived, not even by her own poor heart. There is good +blood in the little red fox." + +Upon returning to Schoepf he exerted himself to the utmost to convince +the old gentleman that, for the present, it was useless to try and do +anything. But he promised to do his best to reconcile the girl to the +thought that she could no longer be her own mistress, but must consent +to be taken under the protection of a loving grandfather. It touched +him to see how much the old man was encouraged and cheered by the +thought that she would come to him in the end. He even began to make +plans for the external arrangements of their future life together. As +if this were a matter that would not brook the slightest delay, he +could not be prevailed upon to stay even until the heat of the day was +over. He must go back at once and look for larger and more cheerful +lodgings, and must buy some furniture, so that he would be prepared to +receive his grandchild just as soon as she felt like coming to live +with him. Besides, he did not want to be the cause of the poor child's +wandering about in the woods any longer, for it was clear she would not +enter the house again until he had gone. + +Schnetz accompanied him through the park. When they were almost at the +gate he asked: + +"Don't you propose to take any steps to find out the whereabouts of the +child's father? Or do you know that he has died since all this +happened?" + +The old man stood still, and his eyes took on that stern expression +which had scared off Zenz that night in the street. + +"The scoundrel!" he cried in a loud voice, passionately striking the +gravel path with the umbrella that he always carried in summer. "The +miserable, perjured villain! Can you seriously suppose that I would let +myself be outdone in pride by my dead daughter, who would have nothing +to do with the author of all her misery, since he appeared to have +forgotten her? Do you think me capable of such a thing as sharing this +living legacy of my daughter, that I have just found again as if by a +miracle, with that robber of women's honor--admitting even that he +would not now choose to deny all share in it? I would rather--" + +"My good Herr Schoepf," coolly interrupted Schnetz, "in spite of your +white hairs, you are rather more passionate than is consistent with the +interest of your grandchild. Now what if anything should happen to you, +and the good girl should a second time be left an orphan in the world? +In case the worst should happen, she ought at least to know just where +she stands; to say nothing of the fact that it can never do any harm to +a child to know to whom it is indebted for the doubtful privilege of +belonging to this world." + +The old man reflected for a moment. His manner grew more gentle. + +"You are right," said he at last. "Scold away at me; it is the old +artist blood in me that will never listen to reason--not even when +all art is passed, and only a little drudgery is left. But that +scoundrel--if you knew how cordially we received him into our home! +Though there again our pride came into play, for he was a baron, and up +to that time we had had no intimates of higher rank than artists, +except a few officers; and besides this he was a stranger, a North +German, and he pleased us immensely; for he was such a lively, +wide-awake, chivalrous young gentleman, a great hunter, and he used to +be always saying he would never rest until he had hunted lions in +Africa--" + +"Good God! Hunted lions? And his name--don't tell me, my good friend, +that his name was--" + +"Baron F----. I had actually forgotten the name, until I found it in my +poor Lena's testament. Heaven knows what ever became of him, and +whether he was punished for his mad whim, and for all the wrong he +inflicted upon my poor child, by dying a miserable death under the +African sun, torn to pieces by wild beasts. The name seems to strike +you. Can it be that you have ever met the wretch?--or perhaps you even +know where he is?" + +Schnetz had recovered himself in a moment. He reflected that at best it +would be quite superfluous, while it might perhaps be extremely +disastrous, if he told the old gentleman in what intimate relations he +stood to the individual in question. Neither did he see that it would +be of any advantage to the girl, if, before she had begun to feel any +love for her grandfather, she should find a father who would be even +more of a stranger to her, and who would be able to count still less +upon her filial affection. And besides, in the interest of his +unsuspecting old tent-comrade, he shrank from making any premature +disclosures. + +He answered, accordingly, that it was true the name was not altogether +unknown to him; indeed, so far as he knew, the father of the girl was +still living; it was possible, however, that they would be doing her a +poor service if they should be over hasty in enlightening her on the +subject. The first thing to be done was to induce her to become +reconciled to her grandfather. + +As the old man was, at heart, entirely of this opinion, he took his +leave, evidently feeling much comforted and full of glad hopes; though +he still lingered a little, secretly hoping he might catch at least +another distant glimpse of the shy little creature. But the girl took +good care to keep out of sight. So that at last, with a quiet sigh, her +grandfather had to set out upon his homeward way. Schnetz stood at the +gate, looking after him. + +"A mad farce, this life of ours!" he growled under his mustache. "The +only thing still wanting is that my old lion-hunter should come riding +past his father-in-law, smoking a cigar and gazing complacently at the +white-haired old boy, who would be powdered still whiter by the dust +kicked up by his nag's hoofs; and that then he should stop here in the +park gate, and make inquiries of Zenz in regard to the health of our +patient, playfully pinching the child's cheek just as he would any +other pretty servant girl's, or giving her a _pourboire_ if she held +his horse for him for ten minutes. And then his niece, our proud little +highness! What big eyes she would make if I should tell her that the +little red-haired waiter-girl was her own, though not exactly her +legitimate, cousin!" + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + +Week after week had passed away. The autumn was approaching; the +rose-bushes on the little lawn shed their last buds, and at evening a +stealthy white mist crept over the lake, and for a whole week the +opposite shore and the distant mountains beyond disappeared completely +behind a dull, gray rain that spread a curtain over lake and land. When +at last it was drawn away the same landscape was indeed there, but in +different colors; much yellow was scattered among the tall beech woods; +the waves of the lake, usually of a transparent green, were changed to +a dull gray, and on the summits of the Zugspitz and the +Karwendelgebirge could be seen the melancholy white of the first snow. + +Even Rossel, who usually regarded the surrounding landscape with great +indifference, and who declared the symbolical relations of Nature to +our moods to be a sentimental prejudice, expressed himself to Kohle +with great displeasure concerning the raw air and the disgusting, +clinging fog, which, as he asserted, had come so early this year out of +pure malevolence, knowing that they were obliged to stay out here on +account of their sick friend. Then, too, the stoves, which had not been +used for many years, refused to draw; and they were soon forced to give +up heating the dining-room. + +Nevertheless Kohle, whose inner fire was still unquenched, would not +allow himself to be deterred from working away at his Venus allegory; +though Rossel had now lost all interest in it, and even accompanied the +progress of the work with open sneers at the idea of their attempting +to naturalize the naked beauty under such a foggy sky. + +But then when the autumn sun bethought itself of its might once more, +and, at high noon at least, awakened for hours all the charms of a most +glorious Indian summer, Rossel still continued in a bad humor, which he +was only careful to conceal in Felix's presence. Schnetz soon got at +the true cause of his low spirits--the almost contemptuous coldness +with which Zenz treated him. His singular passion, which had sprung +originally from an artistic whim, was only inflamed the more by this. +And now that he had learned the secret of her birth, he grew very +melancholy, actually lost his appetite, and, with the exception of the +hours he spent with Felix, shut himself up from every one, not even +making his appearance at meals. Schnetz came to the conclusion that he +had made a formal offer of marriage to the little red-haired witch, and +had been dismissed without ceremony. + +This strange child bore herself with great coolness in the midst of all +these temptations and perplexities. It is true she no longer laughed as +much as she had in the summer. Yet she never made her appearance with +red eyes, or with any other signs of secret grief, and even when she +had to wait on Felix her face was cheerful and unembarrassed. But on +the very first day that the convalescent was allowed to go down into +the garden, leaning on Schnetz's arm, she unexpectedly appeared before +them, her little hat on her head and in her hand a little traveling-bag +containing her few possessions, which she had sent over from the inn +across the lake. She very quietly announced that she was about to +return to the city, as she could be of no further use here. The Herr +Baron was as good as well, and within the last few weeks old Katie had +so far succeeded in breaking herself of her taste for schnapps as to be +perfectly able to look after the household without other assistance. +When Schnetz asked her whether she meant to go to her grandfather she +answered, with a fleeting blush, that "she did not know yet herself; +she had managed to get along without him hitherto, just as he had +without her. She wouldn't swear that she wouldn't go to him; she must +get to know him better first. But she would never let herself be robbed +of her liberty!" + +Felix had listened in amazement, for he had not yet been initiated into +old Schoepf's history. He spoke very kindly to the good child, and held +her hand for a moment tenderly in his. She suffered him to retain it +without returning his gentle pressure, and looked quietly past him as +though she would say: "That is all very fine, but it can do me no +good." Then she allowed Schnetz to exact a promise from her that she +would write him her address as soon as she found a lodging-place, and, +with a last "Adieu, and a quick recovery!" she marched out of the gate +with such a quick and resolute step that it would never have entered +any one's head to suppose that this was a parting at which her heart +had bled. + +Rossel, of whom she took no leave, sank into still deeper melancholy +when he learned of her departure, and the innocent Kohle, who was +always the last to notice anything that was going on about him, +contrived to pour oil on the fire by exhausting himself in eulogies of +this remarkable girl, who was missed now in every nook and corner. He +was forced to content himself with immortalizing, from memory, her +little nose and golden mane, as he called it, in the scene at the +cloister; in which effort he succeeded but poorly, according to the +judgment of Fat Rossel. + +And so, in spite of the cheerful autumn days, the atmosphere in the +villa was none of the brightest. Even in the case of the convalescent +Felix, the more he felt his strength increase, the less did he seem to +rejoice in the new lease of life that had been granted him. Those words +of greeting from his old love, that had made him so happy in his +feverish dreams, had vanished from his memory upon his return to +perfect consciousness. He only knew that her uncle had received daily +bulletins of his condition, and that they would not leave Starnberg +until all danger was over. But they might easily have shown as much +sympathy as that to a stranger, with whom they had chanced to stand in +merely formal relations. For the rest, in what respect had the +situation been changed by his adventure? Altogether to his advantage? A +life and death struggle with a boatman about a waiter-girl! Surely a +dubious test, that, of the correctness of his principles regarding +looseness and freedom of morals; a new proof of how correctly she had +acted when, with a single sharp cut, she severed her life from his. And +now, under what pretext could he give her an explanation of the real +origin of the whole affair? And what further interest could she take in +the doings of one whom she had wholly given up? What did it concern her +whether, in pursuing his own wild courses, he showed himself more or +less unworthy of her? + +But the pride which rebelled against making any overtures secretly +gnawed at his heart. More than once, after the wound in his hand +permitted him to scribble a few letters, he had sat down to write to +her uncle. In doing so, he could certainly put in a word in explanation +of the very innocent occasion of his bloody adventure. But in the midst +of his writing it would seem to him as if, according to the old saying, +he were making the evil worse with every excuse. And then, could he +ever hope to explain away that sin--which was in her eyes the +heaviest--his dancing with the girl? + +So he tore up the letters he had begun, and, gnashing his teeth, +resigned himself to the fate of suffering unjustly, and being better +than he seemed. + +But one day when, by some chance or other, he found himself sitting +alone on a bench in the garden with none of his watchers near--for they +took care to keep him out of the reach of all conversation--he saw, +with a glad throb at heart, her uncle gallop up and gleefully wave his +hand to him over the park-gate. He stood up, and, with a faint blush, +half of weakness, half of confusion, advanced several steps to meet the +well-known face. + +The lively old gentleman rushed upon him, and embraced him so cordially +that Felix had to smilingly beg for forbearance, on account of his +scarcely-healed wounds. Whereupon the uncle excused himself in great +alarm, and, carefully supporting the patient, led him back to the +bench, where he asked him, with the most candid curiosity, for all the +particulars of the unfortunate occurrence. + +"A blessed land, this Bavaria!" he cried, rubbing his hands. "Upon my +word, there is no need for a man to go beyond the 'Pillars of +Hercules,' or among the red-skins: he can have plenty of slaughter +nearer home, in his own German fatherland! But now, out with the truth +about this girl who was the cause of the whole scrape. The moment I +heard you were wounded I asked: _Où est la femme?_ When I learned she +had crossed over with you in the boat, and had been nursing you--No, +don't deny it, you young sinner! The little witch--she is said to have +red hair, too, and red hair always was dangerous to you--ha, ha! Do +you still remember that crazy, mysterious adventure--the one with the +red-haired Englishwoman at the sea-shore?--ha, ha! And now, again--But +what's the matter with you, my dear boy? You turn red and white in a +breath--maybe you've been staying out a little too--" + +Felix rose to his feet with evident exertion. His brow was clouded; his +eyes glared strangely at his jovial old friend. + +"Uncle," he said, "you have been wrongly informed. However, that makes +no difference. The girl, who is no more to me than that mad fool of a +boatman, has left the house again, and with that it is to be hoped this +whole wretched affair will be at an end. But that you should touch upon +that other matter again, when you know how painful the remembrance of +it is to me--" + +"I beg a thousand pardons, my dear boy! It slipped from me, as it were. +You know that, in spite of my fifty-one years, I am the same +incorrigible old _étourdi_; but now I swear by all the gods and +goddesses, never again will I make even the slightest allusion--Why, he +has grown quite pale!--this firebrand of a fellow! Look here, my dear +boy, you ought to take much greater care of yourself, and guard +yourself much more carefully against excitement. I had been meaning to +propose to you to come over and stay with us, for, after all, we have +the best right to nurse you; but since you really are weaker than I +thought, and as certain emotions might perhaps--" + +Felix stared at him in blank amazement. Then he burst out in a forced +laugh. + +"You are joking, uncle. Or perhaps, after all, you are speaking with +more design than you would have me believe. I go and live--with you! +You are very kind; but really, well as I know that all is over, still I +should hardly like to guarantee that certain emotions might not--" + +He broke off, and passed his hand over his forehead. + +"You are right, my boy," replied the uncle, seriously. "It is still a +little too soon. Still, sooner or later this whole absurd, lagging +affair must be set right, and the sooner, the better, in my opinion. +Just think it over. The country is just the place for arranging such a +matter easily and comfortably. If you would prefer to speak with her +alone first, you have only to give me a wink." + +"Is this merely your private opinion, or are you perhaps acting--" + +"Under higher orders? Not yet, unfortunately. But you know my +diplomatic talents. If you will only give me full powers--" + +"I am sorry, uncle, but I really am too weak to talk any longer in this +jesting way of matters which, after all, have their serious side too. +Excuse me for to-day; I must go back to the house; and, in conclusion, +I must beg of you not to exert yourself at all in my interest. You see +I am quite well, under the circumstances--as well as I could wish all +men were--and after I have passed a few weeks more in the country--" + +He tried to speak lightly; but he sank back upon the bench, and could +only motion with his hand for the old baron to leave him, for a sudden +throbbing pain in his wounded breast deprived him of speech. The uncle +stammered out a few frightened words, and then hastened back to his +horse, which he had tied outside the park-gate. He mounted +thoughtfully, and rode off shaking his head. There were some things +about the young people of nowadays that went beyond his comprehension. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + +A few weeks after this meeting, Felix wrote Jansen the following +letter: + + + "Villa Rossel, _last of October_. + +"The spirit moves me to talk with you, old Dædalus; and as my physician +has seriously impressed me with the duty of sparing my lungs, I may +neither look you up myself nor tempt you to come out here to me. So I +must force you to puzzle out these awkward copy-book letters of mine, +in which you will recognize the handwriting of your pupil as little as +you will his customary style. + +"For, between ourselves be it said, things still look rather blue and +gloomy to me. Our friends won't have told you this; before them I have +played the lively, joyous Hotspur, merely in order to make them think +there would be no danger in leaving me out here alone. I can no longer +reconcile it to my conscience to exile my good host from the city, even +though he does put such a good face on the matter; and then there is +Kohle too--hard as it is for him to tear himself away from his bare +walls, he can't go on with his work until he has first made the +necessary designs. What do I lack here except that one thing which is +lost to me forever? You need not fear that I shall become a prey to +misanthropy or schnapps, like old Katie. I should be ashamed to show +myself to Homo, who is looking at me now while I write, with his wise, +sensible, true-hearted eyes. Perhaps he is asking me to send you his +love. + +"But to stay out here awhile in solitude will be of equal service to my +slowly-healing breast and to my poor, somewhat discouraged soul. Don't +let yourself be deceived, old Hans, by what our friends try to stuff +into your head: that my anxiety about whether I shall soon be able to +use my hand again in the service of the arts is gnawing at my heart. +More has been injured in this case than a finger-muscle or a joint; my +hopeful confidence has been shattered--that courage and audacity with +which I came to you in the summer. If I had ten sound hands I would +bethink myself ten times before I again sent them to school to you, for +I am as good as convinced that at the very best they would only have +acquired mechanical proficiency; while a true work of art requires much +more, for which they would hardly have the right sort of tools. + +"You prophesied this to me in the first hour of our reunion. Then I set +myself up to be wiser than my master. And now can you guess how I found +out that you were right? I know it is mortifying, but I must confess +it. During all the pleasant weeks I passed in your workshop I never +once felt so much myself, never felt myself so 'at the height of my +existence'--as Rossel would call it--as in those moments when I was +bringing an oarless boat safely to shore, and afterward when I was +struggling, hand-to-hand, to defend my life against a furious, +murderous scoundrel. + +"That a man maybe a very tolerable bully and desperado, and at the same +time be a great sculptor, your celebrated Florentine predecessor, +Benvenuto, has shown. Though then, to be sure, the days of a nobility +of force were not yet over, and many things were demanded of a complete +man which are now divided among many by our present system of division +of labor. Artistic creation and practical execution are now distinct, +and you were quite right in saying that the clay in which I was called +upon to work was to be found in public life. + +"But where shall I find a material that will not melt away under my +hands? + +"You would be no worse off in a desert of sand than I am in this +bureaucratic, well-regulated, red-tape civilization of ours, that never +permits a man to dig into the lump and stamp his own individuality upon +this commonplace routine; and, after all, it is that alone which could +give any personal satisfaction to a man constituted as I am--this +feeling, akin to the one you have in art, of having created something +which every other man could not have produced just as well by merely +following a certain formula. + +"It may be that my experience in my own narrow little fatherland has +given me a false idea of what a man inclined to action has to hope and +to fear in this Old World of ours. Perhaps if I could find a position +in the North German Confederation!--but even that wouldn't help me; at +least I have known Prussian Landraths with whom I would not have +changed places--men, the highest aim of whose ambition was to succeed +to a chief magistrate's position, with a white head and a soul grown +gray in the dust of official documents. + +"No, my dear fellow, Schnetz unquestionably used the right expression. +I have stumbled into the wrong century. I should have done very well in +the middle ages, when the old savage and unruly spirit was everywhere +to be found side by side with a struggling civilization, and when one +could be a good citizen and yet go armed to the teeth. But since this +wretched anachronism cannot now be helped, I will at least do my best +to seek out a place where a bird of my plumage won't be stared at like +a strange fowl in a hen-yard, and crowed over by every well-conditioned +cock. + +"I have seen quite enough of the New World to know that I shall be more +in my proper place there than here. Don't imagine for a moment that I +over-estimate that promised land; the positive, human, heart-quickening +possessions and enjoyments that it has to offer are few. But of this +very same unattractive nothing, from which something can be made, there +is blessed superabundance there. + +"Consequently, I have made up my mind, as the Yankees say, to cross the +wide water again, and to settle down there permanently. Salutary and +necessary as this step is for me, I know well that parting is not such +an easy matter. And for that very reason I want to make my preparatory +studies for it out here in the deepest solitude. I want to accustom +myself to doing without all sorts of things, and at the same time to +let my body get as hardy again as it is necessary to have it over +there. + +"I hope to attain this result in a few months. And then, before I shake +the dust of the Old World off my shoes, I will come to you again, my +oldest, best, and truest friend. All was not as it should have been +between us; but for that no one was to blame but time itself, which did +not leave us just as we were when we parted ten years ago, but has +brought to each of us many strange experiences, such as even the best +of friends can only understand when they have borne them together. And +how much has happened even in the last few months, which each is forced +to keep locked up in his own breast! To you has been accorded a great +happiness; to me have come all sorts of renunciations and bitter +experiences. Such things do not go well together. But, now that you +have almost seen the last of me, allow me, at least a little more than +heretofore, to share in your happiness, and to bask, though but for so +short a time, in our old friendship. Hereafter I shall have plenty of +time to sit in the shade. + +"Remember me to Fräulein Julie. I have only exchanged a few words with +her. But when I say that I think her worthy your love, you will know +how highly I esteem her. + +"This is the third day that I have been scribbling at this letter. +After every half-page, my wound begins to give warning again. However, +to hold a sword or to cock a musket is not such exhausting work as to +guide a pen. Old Berlichingen managed to get along, though in a far +worse plight. + +"Remember me to our friends; I look forward with the greatest pleasure +to seeing them again, and to celebrating my last German Christmas with +you all. And now good-by, old fellow! _Hic et ubique_, + + "Your Felix." + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + +When Jansen received this letter he was at work in his studio making a +bust of his child. Julie sat at his side looking on; little Frances +crouched in a high chair and asked a great many droll, sage questions; +and in spite of the gray autumn sky it was cozier in the large room +than in the old days, when the summer air came wafted in through the +wide-opened windows. Even now a sparrow flew in, now and then, through +the only open pane, and a great nosegay of autumn flowers stood on the +window-sill. A small fire flickered in the stove, and Julie's beautiful +face and the child's wise eyes gave out a warmth which had once been +sadly wanting here. Yet, notwithstanding this, Jansen's brow still +remained clouded; and he left it to his friend to answer the questions +of the child, while he worked on in silence. + +For weeks she had been aware of this shade upon his spirits without +having been able to discover its cause, and to cheer him up she had +begged him for a bust of the child. Heretofore she had never come to +his studio unless accompanied by Angelica. Now she came every day with +the child, who was passionately fond of her, staid the whole forenoon, +and then took little Frances home with her to dinner, which was always +a fresh treat to the little one. Yet delighted as her friend was at +this arrangement and at this confidential intercourse with his beloved, +the shadow that rested on his spirits did not depart. At last she asked +him directly what it was that oppressed him. She earnestly besought him +to tell her, claiming it as her just right; for unless he did so she +would be compelled to think that she herself was the cause of his +sadness. The fresh outburst of passion with which he greeted this +speech, and which she herself was continually obliged to keep within +bounds, ought to have satisfied her on this point. But his strange +depression was still left unexplained. She must have patience with +him--he had entreated of her time and time again. Things would get +better and come out all right in the end. He loved her far too well to +embitter her life with all the wretched troubles he had to deal with. +If she could help him in any way he would not spare her or be ashamed +to call upon her for aid. + +And now when he had finished reading Felix's letter, he handed it, in +silence, to his sweetheart, and stepped to the window while she read. +For a time it was perfectly still in the great room; little Frances had +clambered down from her high chair, and was busily engaged in dressing +and undressing a doll that Julie had given her only that morning. No +sound could be heard but the singing of the fire in the iron stove and +the hopping of the birds on the shelf above, where the plaster casts +stood. + +Even after Julie had read the letter to the end, she did not at once +break the silence. Not until some time had elapsed did she send the +child up to Aunt Angelica with her love, and the question whether she +might be allowed to stay up there for a quarter of an hour. Then she +stepped up to the window where Jansen stood in silence, laid her hand +on his shoulder, and said: + +"Now if I should guess what it is that secretly troubles you, my +dearest friend, would you confess it to me then?" + +He turned, and passionately folded her in his arms. "Julie!" he +said--"what good would that do? There are some difficulties that are +insurmountable. I can only feel sure you have not vanished from the +world when I hold you to my heart, press my lips to yours, feel my hand +in yours--" + +"Be still!" she said, smiling, and gently disengaging herself from him. +"I didn't send Frances away for you to forget all that you have so +solemnly promised me. Let us be sensible, my dear friend--indeed we +must be. Sit down over there, and try, for once, to listen to me, +instead of looking at me. Do you know, I consider it positively +discourteous of you to pay no attention to my wisest words, merely +because, after such a long acquaintance, your eyes still find something +about me to 'study?'" + +"O Julie!" he said, and a sad smile passed over his face. "If words +could only help--if the sense and understanding and all the strength of +soul of a noble woman could but avail against the treachery and +unreasonableness of gods and men! But speak, and I will close my eyes +and listen." + +"Do you know, you and your young friend are sick of one and the same +illness?" she now said, for he had covered his eyes with his hand and +taken a seat on the sofa, while she stood leaning upon the window-sill. + +"I and Felix? I don't understand you." + +"You have both come into the world too late, you are both wandering +anachronisms, as he says of himself alone in his letter. His energy and +your artistic nature to-day no longer find the soil and air that are +good for them, and that they deserve. When I look about me, dearest, I +say to myself: 'Where are now the people, the prince, the century to +appreciate this power, to lay commissions, reward, honor, and +admiration at the feet of this creative spirit? to post sonnets on the +door of his workshop, to make a passage for him when he strides among +the multitude, as we read that the ancients did, and the great men, +under the rule of the famous popes and the pomp-loving princes?'--Oh! +my dearest friend, I could weep tears of blood when I think how, +instead of all this, you live here, appreciated only by a circle of +good friends and enthusiastic disciples, and are made the butt of +stupid malice or blind ignorance in all the newspapers! And then, when +a demand arises for the production of some work to adorn a square or a +building, wretched quacks, who are not worthy to unloose the latchet of +your shoes, come running up by all sorts of back-stairs and secret +ways, and steal the prize away from you, and you remain hidden in the +dark! Now, don't shake your head! I know how you think about the +applause of the masses, and how little you begrudge it to the poor +wretches who hear no divine voice within them. But be honest now--if +this monument"--she mentioned the name of a man to whom a statue had +just been erected, on which occasion Jansen's application had, as +usual, been rejected--"if this commission had fallen to you--and then +another had followed close upon that--how differently you would stand +in your own esteem when you had become a central figure of your time! +To say nothing of the fact that then you would be able to close the +factory, as you call it, next door, and would have no need to strike a +blow of the mallet that did not come straight from the heart!" + +She had talked herself into a state of great excitement; and now, when +he looked up at her, the shining brightness of her look and the soft +glow of her cheeks enraptured him. But he controlled himself and +remained seated. + +"What you say is all very wise and true," he said. "But for all that +you don't quite hit the sore spot. I have known all this ever since my +eyes were first opened to what went on around me, to what some people +produce and other people admire. Yet in spite of that I have become +what I am, and what I could no more have helped becoming than I could +have helped coming into the world. Remember, too, how much better off I +am than our friend Felix. As far as the outside world goes, we are both +hampered and confined. The age has as little appreciation of high art +as of the great personal activity toward which all his powers and +wishes urge him. But I can at least put before myself and a half dozen +true friends what there is in me, even if it has no fuller life than +this; while our friend's special strengths can only reveal themselves +in putting him at odds with everybody. + +"And, when I look about me here, will not all these dumb creatures of +mine continue to be my companions through life? I sometimes seem to +myself like a father who has a number of daughters, all of them well +brought up and each dear to his heart; and yet, loath as he is to lose +any one of them out of his sight, it seems harder and harder to him, as +the years go by, that no one of them finds a husband, and they all +remain under his roof unprovided for. However, that is fate, and one +learns to accept whatsoever the irresponsible powers bestow upon us. +But that which comes from mortals--" + +He suddenly sprang up, ran his hand through his hair, and stepped so +close to his sweetheart, that Julie, little as she feared him even in +his anger, involuntarily retreated a step. + +"Felix was right," he said, in a hollow voice. "There is only one way +of escape. These chains or others--we can never be free except on the +other side of the ocean. Julie, if you could only make up your mind, if +you feel as terribly in earnest as I do for our happiness--" + +"My friend," she interrupted him, "I know what you would say. But the +more earnestly I long for your--_our_ happiness--the more must I insist +upon our striving to attain it in a perfectly prosaic and sober way. +Your friend is a born adventurer, a circumnavigator--a world conqueror. +Your world and mine is this studio. Can we take it with us in the ship? +And do you think a finer sense of art is to be found among the Yankees +or the red-skins than among our countrymen? No, my dearest Jansen, I +think that with courage and good sense we shall be able to free +ourselves even on this side of the water. You men are masters in +despairing, we women in hoping. And, besides, the end of our year of +probation is still far enough off." + +"Hope!" he cried, gnashing his teeth. "If a tigress had me in her +claws, you might, with far more show of reason, call out to me only to +give up hope with life! But this woman! Do you know a more terrible +enemy of human happiness than this lie--this cold, rouged, heartless, +unnatural lie? If she only hated me as immeasurably as she pretends to +love me, truly, I myself should think it too soon to despair. A mortal +can become satiated even with hate; and malice, too, is something of +which one can get tired. But what is to be hoped when it is all merely +a game, and the innermost nature of one's enemy is the nature of a +comedian? Every spark of conscience has been extinguished in this +wretched woman since her girlhood; her life is to her nothing +but a _rôle_; her love and hate have become merely a question of +costumes--applause and money are her highest and holiest conceptions. +And she fears for both, if she lets me go free. It is flattering to +her--one success more--to be able to pose before herself and the world +as an injured innocent, a robbed wife, a mother whose child has been +taken from her--and for that reason she refuses all my entreaties and +offers with indignation, for she knows well that I would rather give up +any happiness in life than let her have the child. If you had read the +letters I have wasted upon her in these last few weeks! Letters which, +I can truly say, were written with my heart's blood--they would have +made a tigress human; and this woman---read what she answers me! I have +carried on this wretched correspondence behind your back, in the hope +of taking upon myself all that was bitter and humiliating--for what +words have I not stooped to use!--I have borne all the agony of these +last weeks, in order that I might at last lay nothing but the happy +results at your feet. Now read what sort of echo came to me from that +stony heart, and then say whether a man need necessarily be a master in +despairing, to give up all hope here!" + +He went to the large closet, unlocked a drawer, and took out several +dainty-looking letters, that diffused a sweet perfume through the room. +Julie read one after the other, while he threw himself down on the sofa +again and stared at the ceiling. The letters were written in a regular, +delicate, clear hand, and in a style which might be taken as a model of +diplomatic art. There were no traces of mere declamation, of +complaining or accusing. The writer had resigned herself to accept an +unhappy fate, for she felt herself too weak and not cold-hearted enough +to take up the battle with him: a battle in which the man to whom she +had given all stood opposed to her. This she could prevail upon herself +to do, for it was only her own happiness that she was sacrificing. But +she could never be brought to give up her claim to her child. The day +might come when the longing for a mother's love might awaken in the +poor child's heart. Then no one should have it in his power to say to +her: "Your mother has no heart for you; she has given you over to +strangers." Upon passages like this, which were repeated in each +letter, especial care had been bestowed, reminding one, here and there, +of the stage, and the last rhetorical flourish just before the curtain +falls. The last sheet, which had been received only a few days before, +concluded as follows: + +"I know all, all that you would so carefully conceal from me. It is not +only your wish to have done with the past once and forever, and to give +me back my freedom--for, according to your idea of my character, it +would cost me no effort whatsoever to live as if all were at an end +between us, especially as I do not bear your name on the stage. No, I +know what it is that not only makes you wish for a complete separation +from me, but that makes every delay unbearable. You have fallen into +the net of a dangerous beauty. If my old love for you were not stronger +than my self-love, there would be nothing I should more earnestly wish +for, or would more eagerly aid by all the means in my power, than your +marriage with this girl. She would justify me, would raise me to honor +again in your eyes, and would force from you the confession that you +had cast away your only true friend in order to nurse a serpent in your +bosom. But I am nobler than it is for my advantage to be: not, I admit, +altogether for your sake. The hope of seeing you return to me is too +tempting for me not to be willing to help you to have this experience. +But to relinquish our child to this stranger--who is said to be as +clever as she is beautiful, and as beautiful as she is heartless--to +give my blessed angel, who hovers near me in my dreams, to this +serpent--" + +Julie had involuntarily read the last few lines aloud, as if she +scorned to soften down any accusation that was directed against +herself. Her disgust and indignation would not permit her to finish the +sentence--the letter fell from her hand. + +"My dear friend," she said, "let us read no further. I must confess you +are quite right; this is hopeless. Kindness is thrown away upon such an +unnatural character as you so rightly called it, and force--where is +the force that we could use? But as for surrendering--hopelessly, and +without striking a blow--no matter how much talent I might have for +despairing, if I were opposed to this woman, I would either conquer or +die!" + +He sprang up and seized her hand. "Julie!" he cried, "you put new life +into me. Never shall she enjoy such a triumph--rather let us flee to +the ends of the earth beyond the reach of her hand--rather let us go to +the Yankees and the red-skins, but with you at my heart and our child +in our arms--" + +She shook her head earnestly. "No, no, no!" she said. "No self-imposed +banishments! It is a good thing I have my thirty-one years behind me. +Else this youthful enthusiast might succeed in the end in carrying me +off with him, and we should make a great mistake that would soon make +both him and me very unhappy. The land across the ocean is no place for +you, my beloved master. You have never cared to take part in the +modern, sentimental nonsense in our Old World; what sort of a figure +would you cut in the midst of all the humbug of the New? And as for +your giving up your art, and living only for your wife and child--how +long do you suppose you could bear that? How long would it take for the +woman for whose sake you had done this to become a burden to you? And +even if you could rest content with such a life, do you think I would +be satisfied with it? True, I have confessed that I love this man--this +violent, wicked, good, precious Hans Jansen--but I want to see him as +great, as famous, as proud, and as happy as it is possible for any one +to be in this wretched world; to love in him not only the husband and +father, but also the great master, who compels the whole world to join +with me in love and admiration. Oblige me, my dearest friend, by +throwing that correspondence there into the stove, and promise me not +to write any more. In return I promise you that I will ponder day and +night upon the best way for us to free ourselves. And if our year of +probation should pass away without our having succeeded before God and +man--here is my hand upon it! I will be yours--if not in the eyes of +men, certainly in the sight of God; and I believe I am old enough to +know what an honorable woman ought to do and to answer for." + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + +Our other friends, too, had lost in the autumn mists more and more of +that sunny, paradisiacal frame of mind which they enjoyed when we first +knew them. + +Rosenbusch went daily to his studio; but he did little there except to +feed his mice, and to take his flute out of its case, oil and clean it, +without making any attempt to call forth a sound. He would stand for an +hour before the "Battle of Lützen," which was now completed, and heave +sighs that sounded anything but triumphant. He had long since prepared +a new canvas, on which he was intending to paint the entry of Gustavus +Adolphus into Munich, a theme which he hoped would interest even the +"Art Association." But not a stroke of the brush had he done as yet. To +tell the truth, the temperature in his studio was well calculated to +scare away the muses, and to freeze up the sweet tones of his flute. +Even the mice, who were more accustomed to it, squealed uncomfortably +in their little wire cage; while their friend and master, wrapping the +mediæval horse-blanket about his painter's jacket, strode thoughtfully +up and down, casting a look of displeasure at the cold stove every time +he passed it, as if he despised it as a friend who only remained +faithful as long as it was kept warm itself. The money he had last +received, for illustrating a book of soldiers' songs, had long since +been spent. It is true, a dealer in antiquities had made him a very +considerable offer for an old casket with a skillfully-ornamented +silver cover, which was said to have originally belonged to no less a +person than General Illo. But he could not make up his mind to barter +this valuable old relic for vulgar fire-wood. He was too proud to +borrow of Elfinger, who had hard work to live himself; or to reveal the +state of his circumstances to the other inmates of the house. If +any one chanced to come across him wandering about alone in his +strange disguise, he declared, with a beaming face, that he was too +full-blooded to bear the heat of a stove. Besides, he was in one of his +poetical moods, and was brooding over an epic poem which was to treat +of the astonishing and pitiful love-adventure of the Swedish commander +with Gustel von Blasewitz. And composing a poem was a very heating +occupation, unless the "shade of a laurel-wreath" was there to cool the +forehead on which stood the anxious sweat of the muses. + +Toward noon he threw aside his horse-blanket and went around to +Angelica's room, where it was warm and cozy. The good girl led the same +quiet, industrious life now as before; sold one flower-piece after +another, cheaply but surely; painted the children of tender parents who +had no money to spare for art, but yet liked to see their _salon_ +adorned with the red-cheeked curly-heads of their own flesh and blood; +and had certainly no good cause for mourning over the pining away of +the beautiful summer. And yet, she too was perceptibly depressed in +spirits. Whether it was her righteous anger at the flirting and +profitless pangs of her red-bearded neighbor, who since the excursion +on the water had only been permitted to exchange a few hasty glances +and notes with his sweetheart (her father having found out about the +Starnberg adventure, and had a scene with Aunt Babette); or whether the +clouded happiness of her beautiful friend caused her silent pain, or +awakened in her breast a very pardonable longing for a similar +fulfillment of her own earthly mission--who shall say? + +She herself never suffered a word of complaint to escape her; and +exhibited, particularly to her secretly-betrothed friend, the most +contented face in the world. But the change in her spirits did not +escape Rosenbusch. He had to submit to be lectured by her oftener than +ever, and in a far sharper tone, not only because of his inactivity, +but also more particularly because of the aimless and unmanly way in +which he carried on his love affair. She would say such harsh things to +him about it, that any one else would have run out of the room. But he, +meanwhile, would water her flowers with the most penitent and humble +mien, would wash her brushes, and end by assuring her that he never +felt so well as when she was blowing him up; he felt then that he had +no better friend in the world than she was. But he would not be such a +fool as to improve, for he only interested her because of his faults. +She had no appreciation of his praiseworthy qualities, inasmuch as she +could not abide poems, _adagios_, and mice. Whereupon she used first to +laugh, and then, with a shrug of the shoulders and a meaning sigh, to +subside into silence. + +Nor did "Edward the Fat" pass his days any more cheerfully, though he +was surrounded once more by his city comforts, and was relieved of the +hated task of enjoying Nature. For the first time in his life this +spoiled child of fortune had a wish unfulfilled, and, what sharpened +the sting of the privation, a wish that by no means aspired to far-off +clouds and stars, but lay apparently within reach of his hands. +Heretofore he had had no cause to complain of the unkindness and +cruelty of women. The singular contrast between his indolent, sluggish, +and phlegmatic manner, and the keen intellectual power that flashed +from his eyes and played about his lips, to say nothing of the +contemptuous way in which he was in the habit of treating the proudest +and most exacting women, provoked them to enter the lists with him, and +to challenge and abuse him, until, very unexpectedly, they found +themselves worsted. But now, for the first time, he had encountered a +being to whom he was forced to stoop in every sense of the word; for +she was neither beautiful, nor educated, nor particularly prudish, nor +even of good birth. And this strange creature treated him with the most +persistent coldness, remained as insensible as a stick to his tenderest +words and most heart-felt homage, and, finally, slipped out of his +hands altogether. For, in spite of all their endeavors, neither he nor +old Schoepf succeeded in discovering the girl's hiding-place. + +Ever since Schnetz had let him into the secret, Rossel had become more +and more intimate with the old grandfather, and had even proposed to +him to accept of a room in his house. The old man, who, in the mean +while, had moved into somewhat larger quarters, so as to be ready to +receive the girl the moment she should knock at his door, declined this +offer, but was very glad to pass his lonely hours in the company of his +brilliant young friend. They would spend hours--for neither of them had +anything to do--deep in discussions about what was really the main +thing in art, or what should or should not be painted; and it was only +when they heard the door-bell ring at some unusual time that they would +both start up and listen eagerly, hoping it might possibly be the lost +girl returning penitently to her best friends. + +The only ones whose spirits remained unaffected were Kohle and Schnetz; +the latter, because his Thersites disposition had struck its roots too +deeply into his nature for him to be either elated or depressed by +anything he experienced; Kohle, on the other hand, because, like the +happy genii of his Hölderlin, he "soared in the celestial light above," +and was incapable of giving his heart to the fate of mortals, no matter +how closely he might be bound to them by ties of friendship, for more +than a few hours at a time. During these misanthropical November days, +Schnetz, when not engaged in the service of his little highness, sat in +his den of _silhouettes_, cut out bitter satires, smoked, read Rabelais +at Rossel's suggestion, and, for whole days at a time, spoke to no one +except his pale little wife; while Kohle, in a far more wretched, +unheated room, passed his days making new designs which, with fingers +stiff with cold, but with a heart all aglow with happiness, he sketched +on the back of a large fire-screen instead of on paper, which he had +not the money to buy. + +Under these circumstances it was not to be wondered at that the two +meetings of the Paradise Club, which took place before the end of the +year, were not attended by that festal flow of spirits that had +characterized most of their predecessors. Old Schoepf stayed away +altogether; Rossel did not speak a word; Jansen did not make his +appearance until nearly midnight, and sat brooding with a dark look in +his bright eyes, while he emptied glass after glass without being +warmed by his potations. Elfinger, whose relations to his pious +sweetheart grew every day more hopeless, and had begun to seriously +tell upon his spirits, was scarcely more talkative, and the jokes with +which Rosenbusch favored the company had, in Rossel's opinion, a biting +flavor, like preserved fruit that has begun to ferment. The younger and +less prominent members felt the weight that rested on the whole circle, +but were either too modest or too poorly supplied with brains to +succeed in enlivening matters at all; and an uncomfortable feeling +began to creep over first one and then the other, that perhaps in the +life of their society, as in that of every human alliance, the moment +had arrived when a sudden decline succeeds to a period of highest +prosperity, and when a swift dissolution appears more dignified and +more welcome than a long era of gradual decline and decay. + +There was one member who did not make his appearance on these evenings, +although he was still in the city and apparently in just the mood for +such festivities--namely, Angelos Stephanopulos. This or that one had +encountered him, on foot or in a carriage, acting as knight to his +lady, the Russian countess, who had been away for a few months, but had +now returned to that same private hotel where--though at some distance +from the nocturnal musical orgies--Irene and her uncle were awaiting +reassuring reports from Italy. Irene had satisfied the demands of +etiquette by making a formal call upon her fellow-lodger, but had +avoided any more intimate intercourse. + +Upon this point her uncle had submitted all the more readily to his +young governess because, at bottom, he felt more aversion than liking +for all but martial or dancing music. But another promise which his +strict little niece exacted from him, that he would never say a word to +any one about her former relations to Felix, appeared to him so useless +that he did not think it a matter of conscience to keep it any longer +than while they were all such near neighbors in the country. + +At his first meeting with Schnetz he informed his friend and +brother-in-arms of the whole story. + +He earnestly besought him to exert all his influence to rouse Felix +from his dogged silence. Only a single visit from him--now, in the +interesting paleness of convalescence--just to thank them for their +sympathy during his illness; and the world must have turned topsy-turvy +since he was young, if these two estranged lovers did not make up +again. + +Schnetz listened to these propositions with his usual morose calmness, +abused his imperial terribly, and then remarked--that this commission +was not to his taste. He had too great a regard for Felix to help him +to a bride who could not love him just as he was, with all his faults +and weaknesses. He doubted himself whether he should be doing the young +man a favor if he did so. He was keeping house very comfortably out +there in the solitary villa, going into the woods every day with Homo +and a good double-barreled gun; and even though he did not shoot much, +he unquestionably killed time after a much more manly fashion than if +he were here striving to regain the favor and forgiveness of a spoiled +princess. Besides, he was intending to put his affairs in order soon +after Christmas, and then to set sail in the early spring; for he had +taken it into his head that the air in America would agree with him +better than that of his native land. + +This announcement threw the uncle into the liveliest state of alarm. He +depicted to his friend in such dark colors the future that threatened +him, if Felix should carry out this resolution, the prospect of the +life-long guardianship of a Fräulein who would soon be getting +_passée_, who would grow more whimsical and unmanageable from year to +year, and who would make him suffer for the wrong which she herself had +done to her own happiness by her proud obstinacy; he besought him in +such moving terms not to leave him in the lurch, now of all times, that +finally Schnetz took pity upon him and promised to at least seize the +first opportunity to question Felix concerning the real state of his +feelings. + +For a moment he felt tempted, now that they were on the subject of +confessions, to give this lively bachelor, who only wanted to get rid +of his ward in order that he might once more enjoy "life" perfectly +unrestrainedly, a hint in respect to certain natural duties toward +another orphaned child. But a dark presentiment, that possibly a more +suitable hour might come for such a disclosure, restrained him. And, +moreover, as Red Zenz appeared to have vanished from the face of the +earth, there would be no use, for the present, in awakening paternal +feelings of which the visible object was perhaps lost for ever. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + +Thus the year drew toward its end, and Christmas stood before the door. + +In former years they had always had a Christmas-tree at the Paradise +Club. But this time the friends felt disposed to celebrate a more +domestic festival, in a narrower circle. In the course of this year +they had been drawn closer to one another, and had withdrawn more and +more from the other members of "Paradise." Nor was Angelica any longer +the only representative of her sex among them, and the only one thus +excluded from the men's festivals. And so it was determined that +Christmas Eve should be celebrated in the studio-building; that the +tree should be set up in Rosenbusch's room, and the table laid in +Angelica's--a plan which the two neighbors laid before the others as a +joint idea of their own. Each deposited his contribution toward the +preparations, in a money-box of which Angelica was the custodian. + +Nor did Rosenbusch fail to contribute his share, although Angelica +tried by all sorts of pretexts to prevent him. How he had suddenly +come into possession of money again--for he had not sold any of his +work--was a mystery to Angelica, until she helped him to clear out his +studio in order to make room for the Christmas decorations. Then she +missed the silver-mounted box, his most precious treasure. Upon her +reproaching him about the matter he replied: + +"What would you have, my dear friend? It is my misfortune to be a +single man. If I were the father of a family and could not pay my rent +I should be relieved of all want. For you must know that the Art +Society looks at the distress rather than at the talent of those of +whom it buys pictures. Help me to a wife, and I promise you not to +dispose of another article from my museum." + +And then for several days he was in the brightest of spirits, hammering +and working as though he were engaged in arranging the studio for his +own wedding, and, in the short intervals of rest, taking his flute from +its case again. + +Christmas Eve came at last. In the afternoon the hermit of the lake +returned to the city, with the faithful Homo, who had now become his +inseparable companion. Felix's first visit was to Jansen. They were +alone together for some hours--hours that carried them back to the time +of their early friendship, so freely did each open his heart, and so +keenly did they realize once more what they were and always would be to +one another. Yet they both avoided touching upon the details of their +past, as though it were taken for granted that each had an accurate +knowledge of the other's history. + +That Jansen was struggling impatiently to free himself from his bonds, +and that Felix had given up all hope of ever finding his old happiness +again, was all that they confessed. Then they went, arm-in-arm, to +visit Julie, who received her lover's friend with all her sweetness and +kindness. It did Felix good to be with these two happy people, and he +expressed this feeling with so much warmth that Julie thought him +extremely charming, and purposely turned the conversation upon his +emigration plans in order to dissuade him from them, if it were still +possible. But he remained unshaken; and it seemed as if, in spite of +all this kind friendship, he could not wait for the time when he should +set foot upon the shore beyond the ocean. What it was that was driving +him away was not referred to by a word. + +Before the evening's festival, they separated for a few hours. Jansen +and Julie had first to light a Christmas-tree for little Frances and +her foster brothers and sisters, and it was eight o'clock when they +reached the studios. + +Yet they were not too late, but, on the contrary, had to wait for +some time down-stairs in Jansen's rooms with the other friends, +until Rosenbusch, who was always finding some last improvements to +make in the decorations, gave the signal by ringing a hoarse, old +hand-bell--like his other treasures, an historically authenticated +household utensil of the famous Friedlander. + +Besides their intimate circle, Felix, Rossel, Elfinger, Schnetz and +Kohle, no one had been invited but old Schoepf. It had cost much +trouble to persuade the old man to come, for on this day he missed his +lost grandchild more bitterly than ever. Once persuaded, he seemed, in +his silent way, greatly touched; though he strove not to disturb the +merry mood of the others. Then, too, there was so much to be seen and +admired and laughed at in the Christmas room--Rosenbusch had so +surpassed himself, had arranged such tasteful decorations, had made so +many verses and prepared so many mottoes, that it was a full hour +before the distribution of presents was over. + +Then when the lights on the tree had begun to sputter and go out, one +after the other, Schnetz suddenly produced a box, in which, up to this +time, he had kept his present concealed. It was a series of the most +amusing silhouettes, which he now passed in review on a white screen by +means of a magic-lantern. They represented the events and adventures of +the past year, none of those present escaping without a full share of +ridicule. The exhibitor himself was not spared, and it is scarcely +necessary to say that his knightship of the rueful countenance was +unmercifully made fun of. + +While every one was enthusiastically demanding a repetition of this +shadow dance, Angelica slipped away to look after the supper, like a +careful hostess. At length she reappeared and invited them to table; +whereat Rosenbusch ventured to remark that it was high time they should +cut a door through the wall so that they might visit one another in a +friendly, neighborly way, without having to go round by the cold +corridor. The confusion of the moment permitted Angelica, who was +usually very strict in keeping this light-hearted red-beard within +bounds, to ignore this somewhat audacious remark. + +So they entered the other festal hall, in the centre of which stood a +tastefully-laid table covered with shining dishes, plates and glasses, +ornamented with flowers and surmounted by a slender miniature +Christmas-tree, from which hung candy and sweetmeats for the dessert. +But we must unfortunately deny ourselves the pleasure of describing the +joys of the table, to which this select company now abandoned itself. +It is enough to know that it was one of those singularly happy evenings +when everything succeeds, when the serious vein is not too heavy, and +the merriment not too light, the sentiment not too gushing, and the +jollity not too noisy. No one could resist the charm of the cheery +present, or brood with sad thoughts upon the past or future; and even +Felix and old Schoepf soon had no further need to force their feelings, +in order to join in the merry laughter over Schnetz's biting jests and +Rosenbusch's inexhaustible drolleries. + +Besides all this, the domestic talents of the two ladies stood the test +most gloriously. Angelica's simple entertainment found favor even with +Rossel; and a hidden genius was discovered in Julie for brewing an +incomparable punch, according to a receipt which she had inherited from +her father, the general. It was, therefore, merely an expression of the +universal feeling when Rosenbusch rose, and in neat verses, which +unfortunately have not been preserved, proposed the health of their two +lady-friends, the foster-sisters of this circle, who had so wisely +administered the peculiarly feminine office of providing for the +earthly wants of poor humanity. + +This toast, which was received with the wildest applause, was followed +by a number of merry, gallant, and serious harangues; and even the two +ladies mustered up sufficient courage to make some pretty little +speeches, which, it is true, they did not succeed in finishing without +considerable blushing and hesitation. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + +In the midst of a pause that followed the reading of some singularly +tender and beautiful verses by the hitherto silent Kohle, the happy +party heard the clock on a neighboring tower strike the hour of +midnight, and it was only when the twelfth stroke had died away that +their solemnly exorcised spirits seemed to wake once more from their +enchantment. + +Rossel rose, went up to Kohle, and embraced him, calling him "du" for +the first time. He declared that Father Hölderlin looked down from his +blissful heights upon his son, with whom he was well pleased. The +others, too, roused themselves, and expressed, each according to his +fashion, their thanks to the greatly embarrassed poet, to whose health +the only one who could have been jealous of him--the poetical +Rosenbusch--proposed, amid the enthusiastic acclamations of all, that +they should drink the last glass of punch. + +Schnetz propounded the question whether sufficient cause could be shown +why this was and must be the last glass. But Angelica, although she +protested that she wished to exert no pressure upon any one else, +persisted, for her own part, in withdrawing; and as the men, too, felt +that the festal mood of the evening had reached its height, it was +decided to leave the faithful Fridolin to extinguish the lights, and to +start together on their homeward ways. + +Jansen escorted his betrothed; Rosenbusch offered his arm to Angelica; +behind them came Elfinger with Kohle, of whom he had begged a copy of +his poem, promising in return to give him a few hints in the art of +delivery. Schnetz and Rossel, one on either side, supported old +Schoepf, so as to keep him from falling, for he found it hard to walk +on the slippery pavement, which was covered over with a thin layer of +ice. + +The last was Felix. His voice had not been heard for some time back, +and no one noticed when, without saying good-night, he turned into a +side-street, and went his way alone. + +Pulling his hat far down over his face, he rushed as hastily through +the raw night as though he were somewhere impatiently expected. His +wounds, which were still scarcely healed, pained him; the fiery drink +had heated his blood after his long abstinence; and restless, joyless +thoughts throbbed through his brain. Before he was aware of it, he +found himself in the square before the hotel where Irene lived. Schnetz +had let fall a word, as if by chance, about their having taken other +rooms, because of the musical _soirées_. Where ought he look for her +window now? They light no Christmas-trees in inns; besides, it was past +midnight, and in only a few of the windows was the light still burning. + +His eyes fastened themselves unconsciously upon a bright window in the +second story. The dark outline of a woman's figure was visible there +for a moment; but he could not make out whether it was she who was +peering out through the frosted window into the Christmas night. Then +the figure drew back again, but he remained. + +He stood leaning against a lamp-post, insensible now to the chilling +fog and the pain of his wounds. It seemed to him as if he were already +on the shore of the New World, and between him and that bright window +the broad ocean stretched. Never had he realized so clearly that he +could never be happy without this girl, and yet he had never been so +far removed from every hope. He said to himself that he must not return +to this spot so long as he remained in the city, unless he would see +the courage which he had mustered up with so much pain broken again and +his determination shaken anew. He must forget once for all that there +was a bright window here; he swore it to himself with the full +consciousness of how hard it would be for him to keep his vow. + +At this moment the light in the window went out. It made a cold shudder +pass over him, as if he had received a confirmation of his fears that +all was at an end forever. Then he roused himself, and slowly started +on the way to his lodgings. + +In spite of the late hour, the streets were full of life. The Christmas +mass, which lasted from twelve to one, still kept many pious or curious +people on their feet. Felix had not gone far when he overtook two +couples, who seemed to be in even less of a hurry than himself. A +large, stout woman walked in front, hanging on the arm of a young man +who appeared to be telling her some very amusing story, for she +laughed incessantly in a deep, coarse voice, every minute turning her +head--whose thick, black hair was but loosely wound with a red +kerchief--that she might look at the second couple, as if she wondered +why they did not laugh too. The latter were not walking arm-in-arm; but +the man kept close to the girl and spoke incessantly to her in a low +voice, while she walked by his side with drooping head, as though she +did not belong to him, and were paying no attention to his talk. + +The light of the street-lamp now fell upon the group, brightly +illuminating a little hat with a black feather, that sat jauntily upon +a gold-red chignon. + +"Zenz!" cried Felix in surprise. + +The girl suddenly stood still, and looked around her. + +"Is it really you?" he cried, hastily stepping to her side. "Where have +you been hiding all this time? But I see you are with company. I won't +detain you." + +She still stood there, without moving or answering a word. But her +companion, an insolent, dissipated-looking young fellow--apparently a +young salesman--took upon himself to reply for her, and declared that +he would not allow any one "to strike up an acquaintance with his girl +in the street," in his presence, and without an introduction to him. + +With this he offered Zenz his arm to take her to the others, who had +only just discovered what was taking place, and were looking round +toward the stragglers. + +"You have nothing to say here, my good friend," replied Felix, with the +greatest coolness. "If Fräulein Zenz has no objection to standing here +with me, I have a good deal to say to her, and you can wait until I +have done, unless you should prefer to go on. How is it, Zenz? Have you +five minutes to spare for an old friend?" + +The girl now quickly raised her eyes to his and said, in a timid tone +that sounded strangely from her lips: + +"Is it true that you haven't forgotten me yet?"--Then, before he could +answer, she turned to the others: + +"You needn't give yourselves any further trouble about me; I can find +my way fast enough. Goodnight!" + +"Hullo!" cried the young fellow, "that _would_ be cool--to drop a man +in the street in this style when another comes along. Damn it, sir--" + +He had just turned in a threatening way upon Felix, and had called up +the others to bear witness that he didn't intend to suffer any such +treatment, when the big, black-haired woman recognized Felix, and +hastily whispered a few words to the excited man that seemed to make a +marked impression on him. He gave vent to a few more furious +expressions, and then suddenly burst out into a hoarse laugh. Making an +ironical bow to Zenz, and calling a coarse epithet after her, he turned +upon his heel and followed the two others, who went on their way as if +nothing had happened. + +"Nice company I find you in," said Felix, drawing nearer to the +trembling girl. "I thought it likely you couldn't feel very happy among +them. Come, you must tell me now what sort of people they are, and how +you have been living since I saw you last. If I saw rightly, that big +woman was the 'Black Therese.' Poor child! things must have gone very +badly with you, to make you take refuge with _her_!" + +She hung on his arm, and let him lead her down the street. He saw, with +heart-felt pity, how pale and haggard she had grown, and what poor +clothes she wore. Nor could she be induced, at first, to speak a word; +yet her breast heaved as if it would burst, and every now and then she +stood still and drew a deep breath. But his kind words gradually melted +the ice. She told him that she had led a wretched life; had sought in +vain for work, and had finally seen no other way than to go back once +more to her old acquaintance, who had taken her in again. But, because +she was no longer as merry as she used to be, she had not suited the +Black Therese at all; and she would gladly have gone away from her if +she had only known where to turn. The woman had tried to make her +acquainted with all sorts of gentlemen, and had scolded her for a silly +goose, because she would not consent. + +That night the Black Therese's lover had come to take both girls to the +Christmas mass. But in the church a friend of his had joined them, and +they were just on their way to a public-house to get something more to +drink. It had seemed as if heaven had opened to her when she heard +Felix's voice. And now, all of a sudden, she felt quite light at heart. +How had he happened to come along just at the right time, and how was +he getting on, and was he really quite well again? + +She began to laugh again as she asked these questions, with her old +happy, light-hearted laugh. All her wretchedness seemed of a sudden to +have vanished, and to be forgotten. + +"Zenz," he said, "you must not go back to this black devil of a woman. +She will bring you to ruin sooner or later; you can no longer have any +doubt of that. But now, what do you intend to do? Have you ever taken +any thought as to what is going to become of you?" + +Her laughing face suddenly grew dark again. + +"Indeed I have," she answered, with a thoughtful nod of the head. "I +have made up my mind to look on and see how things go until summer; +then, if I am no better off--I'm not afraid of the water, I will take +another trip on the Starnberger lake, and, when I am just in the +middle, I will close my eyes and spring in. They say it doesn't hurt at +all. + +"You see," she continued, when he did not answer, "I shall never be +happy in this world; very few are, and it is all ordered beforehand. So +why should I look on patiently while my few young years pass miserably +away? There is no one to miss me when I am out of the world. And if it +is all the same to _me_ whether I live or not, what does it matter to +any one else?" + +As she said these words, she involuntarily let go his arm, and stood +still again for a moment, to recover breath after her quick speech. + +He seized her hand. + +"Will you do something for my sake, Zenz?" he asked, tenderly--"a very +great favor? Will you promise me to do what I ask you?--to go with me +wherever I lead you? You know well enough that I mean well by you." + +She looked at him inquiringly. Then she laid her other hand in his, +too. A blush mounted to her cheeks, as if from a sudden glad hope that +was almost like a shock. + +"Do with me whatever you like!" she said, in an almost inaudible voice. +"I have no one in all the world but you. Kill me or make me happy, it +is all the same to me." + +"Come then," he answered, taking her arm again. He knew very well what +thought it was that had sprung up within her, and that he must +disappoint her hope. But he left her in her delusion, so that she would +follow wherever he should lead. + +They walked for a quarter of an hour, both in silence, through the +dark, deserted streets. At length he stood still before a house, in +whose upper story the windows were still lighted. + +"Here!" he said. + +She gave a start. "Have you moved?" she asked, regarding the house with +a look of surprise. + +"Here lives the man, Zenz, to whom I want to bring you; he will care +for you better than I myself could, even if I were willing to take you +with me to a new world. You know whom I mean, child. You did not think +of him when you said no one would miss you when you were no longer in +the world. Do you remember him now? No," he continued, as she made a +movement to escape from him, "I won't let you go; you know what you +promised me. The old man sitting there up-stairs--if you only knew how +he longs to make up to you for the wrong he did to your poor mother; if +you only knew him, Zenz, as we all do--and now he sits there in his +lonely room this Christmas-night. The lieutenant has told me of all the +things he has brought together, so that he might have some presents +ready for his grandchild in case she should hit upon the happy idea of +presenting him with herself on Christmas-eve. And, Zenz, if you could +only find it in your heart to carry out this thought, even at this late +hour, would you not be better off up there than in the tavern with +those blackguards, where you would be given vile stuff to drink, and +forced to listen to worse talk? And even if this were not so, and you +could not bear to live with him, wouldn't there still be time for that +voyage on the lake of which you spoke?" + +This last thought seemed at length to turn the scales. + +She suddenly burst out laughing again. "I was caught nicely that time," +she said; "I positively never thought of such a thing when I promised +you I would do whatever you asked of me. But, then, it was very stupid +of me; I ought to have known-- However, it's quite true that I can try +it for a while; it won't cost me my head; and if it doesn't work--why, +he won't put me under lock and key, so that I can't get away again. +Only you must say to him, in the first place, that I don't particularly +like him. I can't conceal what I really feel." + +Felix pulled the bell. A sleepy old woman, who acted as servant to +Father Schoepf, opened the door. "Goodnight, Zenz," said Felix, +cordially pressing the girl's hand. "Say for yourself whatever you have +to say to your grandfather. And I thank you for having kept your word; +you won't regret it. Good-night, and remember me to the old gentleman; +and tell him that I heartily congratulate him upon his Christmas joy. +Tomorrow I will call and see how you get on together." + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + +It was not much earlier when the two lovers, who had likewise separated +themselves from the rest, arrived before Julie's house. They had taken +a roundabout way, for Jansen, who was only too happy to have his +beautiful sweetheart on his arm, and to be alone with her at last, +would hare liked to wander about for hours. The night-air quickened all +his senses, and, in the pale light of the snow and the lamps, the face +at his side appeared to him enchantingly beautiful. But he spoke +little, just as all the evening he had been the quietest of the party. +And she understood him well enough to know that he did not speak to her +simply because he never ceased to think of her. Sometimes he would draw +her closer to him, and touch his lips to her cool, soft cheek, in the +dark shadow of the houses or in the centre of a deserted square. Then +he would speak some tender word to her, only to lapse into silence +again the next moment. + +When at last they arrived at the gate before her house, she stood still +and drew the door-key from her pocket. + +"We are really here already!" she said. "What a pity! I could walk for +hours. It seems to me as if time stood still when I am hanging on your +arm. But I must relieve my old Erich, who is sitting up until I come. +Good-night, dearest!" + +"Here?" he asked, painfully surprised--"here, in the cold street? It is +warm in your rooms." + +"And for that very reason," she said, softly, "we should find it so +much the harder to part." + +"Julie!" he cried, passionately clasping her to his breast, "_must_ we +part? Can you send me away, when we have not been able to say a +confidential word to one another all this evening? If you but knew how +I felt--" + +She gently withdrew from his embrace. "Dearest," she whispered, "I know +only too well. Do you suppose it costs me no struggle to have more +sense than you, you wild man? To still make myself out a girl without a +hearty while all the while I can feel the poor disobedient thing +beating only too wildly? Oh, my darling, if you and I were only alone +in the world--" + +"Who is there besides ourselves who can separate us from one another?" +he cried, hotly. + +She laid her soft hand entreatingly upon his mouth. There were some +people passing who stopped to listen to his loud voice. "Be quiet, +dearest!" she whispered. "Be good, be gentle, be patient for just a +little while longer; and think, too, of my own feeling. Have you +forgotten that I have determined to be a good mother to our little +Frances? I always want to be able to look her in the eyes, and on our +marriage-day, too, when I wear the bridal-wreath that I have honorably +deserved. The happiness of belonging to you is so great that it may +well be worth a time of probation. And now good-night, until to-morrow, +and don't be angry with me. Some time you will thank me for having +to-day made myself out stronger--than I really am." + +With these words she threw her arms tightly round his neck, and gave +him a long and loving kiss. Then she hastily escaped, opened the gate, +and vanished down the dark garden-walk that led to the house-door. He +waited to see the light appear in her window; he could not feel +reconciled to parting from her in this way. But she knew that it would +only be the harder for him to tear himself away if he should see a +light in her window. With throbbing pulse and burning cheeks she +entered the dark room, refusing to take the lamp which the old servant +had in readiness. So she undressed herself by the faint light that +penetrated through the blinds, and hastily sought her bed, to lie a +long time sleepless, thinking of all the happiness that was in store +for her. + + +Nor did Rosenbusch make any great haste to take his lady home. They +were both in a very merry mood, and he especially made so many +brilliant jokes that he kept her laughing continually. It was by sheer +oversight that they suddenly found themselves standing at last before +her house and Angelica expressed her surprise that the way had been so +short. It was so refreshing to be out in the cold winter night, after +all the punch and laughter. + +A droschky drove slowly past. Rosenbusch proposed that they should take +a drive to the Nymphenburg. But she would not hear of such a thing, but +advised him to go home like a respectable person, and not to seek +companions in some wine-house and spend the night with them in +drinking; he had more in his head already than was good for him. But +when she did not succeed in getting the house-door unlocked, she had to +put up with his remark that her hand did not seem to be a very steady +one either. "A man must guide her steps," he sang from the +"Zauberflöte," as he took the key from her and opened the door with a +smart wrench. "It was very true," she said, "she did not know how to +manage latch-keys as well as certain night-birds. But now, many thanks +and goodnight!" + +With these words she attempted to step into the house; but he, in his +merry, audacious mood, could not restrain himself from quickly seizing +her round the waist and giving the good girl, who looked positively +pretty with her hood and her red cheeks, a sounding kiss upon the lips. +But this was carrying the joke too far, in her opinion. + +"Herr von Rosebud," she said, in her coldest tone, "you have drunk more +than is good for you, and are not entirely responsible for what you do. +For that reason I can't be so severe upon your forgetfulness of all +propriety as I otherwise should be. I will merely remark to you that my +name is not Nanny, and that I wish you a very good-evening." + +She made him a formal courtesy, and attempted to slip quickly past him. +But he held her fast by her cloak and said, in a droll, pathetic tone: + +"You wrong me greatly, Angelica. Truly, I have such a devilish respect +for you, I honor you so boundlessly as the model of all womanly +virtues, that I would rather eat my head than forget what I owe to you. +But will you have the goodness to remember that we have sleighing now? +and although we two have merely slid here on foot, still I thought +myself entitled, as your true knight, to take this liberty. If this was +an error, can you find it in your heart to condemn me for it to the +eternal punishment of your direful wrath?" + +She could not help laughing at the crushed and penitential mien, which +the cunning rascal knew so well how to assume. + +"Go!" she said, in her old tone again. "On Christmas night the Saviour +came into the world to suffer for all sinners. And, perhaps, you may be +forgiven too." + +"I thank you," he responded, very quietly. "And in token thereof, dear +fellow-Christian, seal your solemn forgiveness, in the sight of this +starry heaven, with a voluntary, sisterly kiss. No, you must not refuse +me this, unless you want me to pass a sleepless night. You are no +Philistine, dearest Angelica." + +"I wish I were one," she sighed. But then she kindly and without +further resistance offered him her red lips, and said, once more: +"Good-night, my dear Rosenbusch!" and the house-door closed between +them. + + + + + + _BOOK VI_. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +The new year had come, but it brought little that was new. + +One day, about the middle of January, when a light snow was falling in +large flakes, the carriage of the old countess had been standing for +more than an hour before the hotel in which Irene was stopping with her +uncle. The coachman, buried in his high-shouldered bearskin coat, had +fallen into a doze, and the horses hung their heads and meekly suffered +themselves to be covered with the falling snow. But it seemed as though +the silent fall of the flakes would come to an end sooner than the +storm of German and French phrases with which the lively old lady +overwhelmed the young Fräulein, who sat absently listening to her. + +Her uncle had retired into a window-niche, and was looking over an +illustrated hunting-book; now and then he threw in a word, a question +about this or that acquaintance, which immediately gave the old +countess an opportunity to begin a new chapter of her town-gossip. + +When, in the midst of this, the servant announced the arrival of the +lieutenant, Irene could not suppress a glad "Ah!" This time she found +his riding-boots, stiff with snow, and his shabby old winter overcoat, +in which he was muffled up to the eyes, by no means so objectionable as +usual, but welcomed him as a friend in need, and, smiling gratefully, +gave him her hand, which he pressed tightly between his rough buckskin +gloves. + +But for all that she was disappointed in her hope, for he silently +threw himself into a chair, stretched out his legs and beat time with +his riding-whip on his high boots, while the old lady, taking up the +lost thread of her discourse again, began to spin on as zealously as +ever. + +Her conversation dealt for the most part with the festival calendar of +the great world, with receptions, _soirées_, routs, and the amateur +theatricals that had been given by the French ambassador. Then the +question whether there was a prospect of any court balls, and how many +there would be, was discussed at length, with great vigor, and with +many references to former times, when the good lady was a reigning +belle. + +All at once it seemed to occur to her that she had the conversation +entirely to herself. + +"_Mais savez-vous, mon cher Schnetz_," she said, turning to him, "_que +vous avez une mine à faire peur? Je ne parle pas de votre toilette_--in +that respect you have never been very indulgent toward us. But all the +time I am trying to initiate our dear Irene into the programme of her +winter pleasures--for we can never think of letting her travel off into +that land of cholera and brigands, where they are threatening to cut +the throat of our religion and of the holy Father--you sit there like +Hippocrates--_le dieu du silence; et on voit bien, que vous vous moquez +intérieurement de tous ces plaisirs innocents._ Of course, in regard to +dancing, the gentlemen now-a-days are quite _blasé_. But although you +yourself can no longer take any pleasure in the joys of the carnival--" + +"You are greatly mistaken, my dear countess," interrupted Schnetz, +seriously. "I am so far from being indifferent to the pleasures of +dancing that I actually propose to dance all night long, four days from +to-day, provided I can find a partner who will dare to trust herself +with such a dancing bear." + +"Four days from to-day? _Vous plaisantez, mon ami._ Where is there +going to be a ball four days from to-day?" + +"Not in the higher spheres, gracious lady, but still a very excellent +and respectable hall; moreover, in masks, which fact would in itself +make it worth attending. The truth is," he said, addressing himself to +Irene, "on Saturday we propose to open the carnival in our 'Paradise,' +about which I have already told you. You undoubtedly remember that +young baron, who took our boat in tow that day on the lake, and who +afterward had the difficulty with that murderous scoundrel? He is going +away to America--no one knows exactly why; and, as we all like him, we +are anxious to give him a formal farewell _fête_. For in all the five +points of the globe he will never see again such a masquerade as we can +make for him!" + +A short pause followed these words. Irene had suddenly grown as pale as +death; it seemed to her as if she could not breathe; her uncle laid +aside his hunter's album, and rose, contriving, as he did so, to +secretly step on Schnetz's toe--the latter was apparently occupied in +the most innocent manner, with his heavy silver watch-chain, from which +were suspended a boar's tooth, a few trinkets, and a large seal ring. + +"_Comment?_" said the old lady. "He is going off to America? _C'est +drôle_--and at this time of year--_au c[oe]ur de l'hiver!_ And I have +been meaning to ask you, my dear Schnetz, to bring this young man to +see me--he certainly looks as if he might be a magnificent dancer, and +from his birth and education he could not but prefer the balls in +society to any dancing parties that your artist friends might give." + +"That is a question, countess," remarked Schnetz, dryly, as he rubbed +his disfigured ear; "or, rather, knowing the man as I do, it is not a +question at all. My friend's taste is altogether too unprejudiced for +him to consult the peerage to find out whether he may amuse himself or +not, or to judge by a merry dancer's eyes whether she is worth having +for a partner. He has had sufficient experience of what you are pleased +to call society to enable him to turn his back upon it without regret. +He now seeks society where he can find it; and, if it belongs to the +set you consider disreputable, it is good enough for him on carnival +eve, if for no other reason than because the so-called 'good society' +is only called so because, as a well-known Weimar councilor once +remarked, 'it never yet afforded material for even the smallest +poem.'" + +"_Toujours le même frondeur!_" laughed the old lady. "_Mais on doit +pourtant observer les convenances_; I mean, even if your friend does +sometimes condescend to enter this _Bohème_, as you yourself do--" + +Schnetz immediately cleared his throat loudly. "As to the +condescension," he said, with emphasis, "there can be so little talk of +that in the present case, that I can assure you that if the most +accomplished courtiers in your exclusive society should present +themselves for admission to this Paradise, they would be blackballed, +with but very few exceptions. This will give you an idea of what the +gentleman are like. As for our female guests--though they might not +always find favor in the eyes of delicate ladies--I will do them the +justice to say that they always behave themselves with propriety while +they are with us, and that they have a very good idea of what is +expected of them on such occasions. If this were not the case, do you +think I would dare to invite our honored Fräulein to this masked ball? +to do which, by the way, was the occasion of my present visit." + +"Irene? Well, I must confess, Schnetz--_cést l'idée la plus +extravagante que vous ayez jamais eue. Irene, qu'en dites-vous, ma +chère enfant? Mais c'est un idée_-- + +"It is our rule," said Schnetz, turning to Irene, without paying the +slightest heed to this interruption, "to allow each member to bring a +lady with him, no matter whether she is known to the others or not. Her +cavalier is held responsible by the society for her behaving herself +with propriety. And up to the present time all have shown so much tact +in their choice, that nothing like a scandal has ever occurred. Of +course these good children are of all degrees of education and origin, +respectable burghers' daughters, actresses belonging to the smaller +theatres, and very likely you will find a little seamstress or milliner +among them, for whose unswerving principles I should hardly like to +answer. But all these inequalities disappear in the masquerade, and one +sees nothing but round, pretty faces, which their artist friends try to +set off as charmingly as possible. To have taken part in such a thing, +my dear Fräulein, will be an experience for you which you will not +forget as quickly as you do the artificial routs of our aristocratic +friends, that pass without mirth or comfort, and of which one is the +exact counterpart of all the rest. + +"Then, besides," he continued, as Irene gave no sign either of assent +or dissent, "you needn't stand on any ceremony at all. If you should +not feel at home among us Bohemians, you can regard the matter as you +would a play, whose end we do not stop to see if it bores or depresses +us. I need only add that the young lady to whom Jansen is secretly +engaged is coming, as well as our honest friend Angelica, so that you +will not lack a guard of honor. Now, do help me persuade the Fräulein, +my dear countess. I am well enough acquainted with her uncle, to know +that he will have nothing to say against it." + +"I help you, you godless tempter of youth?" cried the old lady, +wavering between sincere anger and a desire to laugh. "_Mais décidément +vous tournez à la folie, mon cher Schnetz!_ Have you forgotten that I +fill the place of a spiritual mother, _pour ainsi dire_, to our Irene? +that I feel myself responsible for all the impressions and experiences +she may encounter in our Munich? And you ask me to persuade her +to enter a society to which women _de la plus basse extraction_, +shop-girls, grisettes and models belong--a society, in a word, which is +of a thoroughly _mauvais genre_, no matter how much you bad men may +prefer it to ours?" + +While she was pouring forth this hasty speech, a singular play of +anger, pity, and withering scorn came and went upon Schnetz's face. At +length the old lady having come to an end, and making as though she +would draw Irene to her arms, as if she were a little chicken who +sought protection from the claws of a hawk, the lieutenant slowly rose, +planted himself before the sofa, folded his arms over his chest and +said, bringing out each word with a certain dry satisfaction: + +"You are too old, my good countess, and moreover too thoroughly +petrified by the atmosphere of courts, for me to venture to hope that +you will change, in any way, your ideas about men and things. But I +must respectfully request you not to make use of the expression +_mauvais genre_ in connection with any society to which I permit myself +the honor of inviting Fräulein Irene. It is opposed to my principles to +introduce young ladies whom I esteem into any circle where they could +be insulted by anything immoral or vulgar. Upon this point, I hold even +more exclusive views than you, in spite of your duties as spiritual +mother. In the days when I was still a frequenter of 'society,' which +is undoubtedly neither better nor worse here than it is in other +capitals, I often overheard ballroom-talk which would not have been +excused in our Paradise, even by the license allowed to those who wear +masks--though we can scarcely be called prudish. It is true the +conversation was veiled in smooth French and still smoother double +meanings, which undoubtedly accounts for its being considered _bon +genre_. So much for mere _words_. And when we come to consider the +deeds of this _haute extraction_ from a moral point of view--why, you +yourself have kept a record long enough to know that one may be very +well versed in the manners of a court, and may yet, as far as looseness +of principles is concerned, rival many a grisette, or, for that matter, +many a model; and that blue blood is quite as apt to run away with the +weaker sex as red. Those gentlemen, especially--to whom you would not +hesitate to trust Fräulein Irene for an entire cotillion--may I be +allowed to remind you of certain stories, in connection with some of +your own partners? About Baron X., for instance, who--" and he bent +down over the old lady, and whispered for some time in her ear, +notwithstanding the comical struggles she made to protect herself from +the auricular confession thus forced upon her. + +"_Mais vous êtes affreux_," she cried out at length and struck at him +with her handkerchief, very much in the same way that one tries to rid +one's self of a swarm of importunate gnats. + +"I beg a thousand pardons," growled Schnetz, again addressing himself +to Irene. "_C'est contre la bienséance, de chuchoter en société_--you +see I haven't quite forgotten my catechism of good-breeding even yet, +though I do sometimes sin against it. I merely wished to convince the +countess that the '_Bohème_' from which I have chosen my friends, does +indeed consist of men, and not of angels, but that it would be +impossible for me to introduce the Fräulein to any one there, from whom +the history of morals and civilization in this city could learn as much +as it could from certain members of the best circles." + +The old countess hastily rose. Her face had grown very red, her +nostrils quivered. She gave a slight cough, and then said, turning with +a motherly smile to Irene, who was helping her on with her furs. + +"_Ce cher Schnetz, il a toujours le petit mot pour rire._ Well, _ma +mignonne, faites ce que vous voudrez. Je m'en lave les mains. Adieu, +Baron! À tantôt! Adieu, Schnetz_, you renegade, you horrid wretch! I +see it is true what the world says of you, and what I have always +disputed, that you have the most malicious tongue in the whole city." + +She gave him as she passed a little tap, intended to be light and +coquettish, but really delivered so sharply that the recipient could +easily see how glad the same hand would have been to give him a more +forcible lesson--if it had only been good _ton_. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + +She had scarcely left the room, accompanied by Irene, when the baron +stepped up to Schnetz. + +"Well, I must confess," he cried, "you are not a cheerful man to pick +bones with! For Heaven's sake, tell me, _mon vieux_, what devil +possesses you to talk in this reckless way to that old court mummy?" + +Schnetz looked him coolly in the face, and once more began to rub his +mutilated ear. + +"Do you really think she understood me?" + +"Understood you? _Que diable!_ You certainly left nothing to be desired +on the score of plainness. I must say though, my good friend, now that +we are quite alone again, that, excellent as I find your plan of +bringing the two offended lovers together under cover of the freedom of +a masquerade, I really can't approve of the way in which you have gone +to work. For no matter how much my niece may be shaken in her whim by +the prospect of America, or how thankful she may be at heart for every +chance that is given her to capture her roving bird again--still, just +think how difficult you have made the matter for her, by bringing up +this question of the ball before that old woman! I ought to have been +kept out of the game too. Now, if she asks me on my conscience as uncle +and guardian----." + +"On your conscience? On _which_, if I may ask? On your conscience as a +baron or as a man?" + +"H'm! I should imagine that two old tent companions, such as we are, +would agree pretty well as to the matter itself. But you must admit +that much, which might seem quite innocent to me as a bachelor, could +hardly meet my approval as a guardian, in my official capacity, so to +speak. And more than this, it seems to me that there really are two +different moral standpoints for men and women, and what is right for +the one is not always proper for the other." + +"There you hit it exactly!" cried Schnetz, flying into a rage, and +throwing his whip down on the table. "That is why we never come across +a single sprig of fresh verdure in our social relations! that is why we +must eternally carry about lies, narrow-hearted makeshifts, and mean +reservations, all because we adopt a double standard of weights and +measures, and regard a damned shrug of the shoulders as an excellent +preventive for all the cancers of society! Neither of the two sexes, +when they are together, dares express itself openly, neither says all +that it thinks, each thinks to fool the other with its tricks and +quibbles, while both know very well what they are about, and ought by +good rights to laugh in each other's faces over these miserable and +perfectly fruitless sham fights. And because this whole farce is so +cursedly insipid, and this high tone of high society makes the women +gape as well as the men, therefore both sides struggle all the more +eagerly to indemnify themselves for the boredom they have suffered, +each in his own way, in clubs or worse places, or under four eyes, +where one throws aside all masks and strait-lacing. Honest old Sir John +was quite right--'A plague of all cowards, say I'--And this modern +world of ours will never grow healthy again until the two sexes become +tired of this childish mummery and meet each other half-way in an +honest endeavor to give truth a trial, without prudery and without +coarseness!" + +He raved on in this fashion for some time longer, without giving the +baron a chance to get in a syllable. Not until his breath had given +out, and he had seized upon his hat, did the other venture to offer a +meek reply. + +"All very good and fine, my dear friend, all admitted in theory. But +_in praxi_--since the world has not yet become entirely sensible--won't +it be necessary to respect the prejudices of a stupid majority for a +while longer? Can our young lady--now that this old chatterer knows +about it--go, without any further consideration, to your paradisaical +festival, where she is sure to meet dubious daughters of Eve? where it +is possible that the girl who was running after our Felix, the little, +red-haired waiter-girl, may, God knows in what costume, stir up another +scene of murder and manslaughter?" + +Schnetz had remained standing with his hand on the door. As the baron +said these words he let it go again, and stared at the excited speaker +for a while; then he laughed bitterly, and stepped back into the room +once more. + +"This waiter-girl?" said he, laying his hand on the baron's shoulder. +"Well, of all the games the devil ever played! Old friend, do you know +who this waiter-girl is, who nursed this youngster Felix so faithfully, +while others looked on from a distance? This waiter-girl, this child of +the people, who would not be fitting company for a young baroness? +Well, then, she is your own daughter, baron, and first cousin of your +high-born niece!"-- + +The baron stepped back a step or two. "_Trève de plaisanteries, mon +cher!_" he stammered, trying to laugh. "What sort of a romance is this +you are trying to palm off on me! I--I am--ha, ha, ha! A delightful +farce!" + +"I congratulate you and your good child upon the cheerful mood in which +this unhoped-for discovery finds you," remarked Schnetz, dryly. "To be +sure, the affair is by no means so tragic as it would have been, were +the mother still living. This poor deserted"--here he stepped close up +to the baron, who stood as if petrified, and pronounced her name--"this +sacrifice to our double code of morals has been dead for a year; nor +has the child any suspicion that her dear papa is leading a jolly +bachelor's life in the same city with her." + +The baron sank upon the sofa; his arms hung at his sides; the only sign +of life that he gave was in his little, restless eyes, that wandered +about anxiously and unsteadily, without seeming to rest on anything. In +the mean while Schnetz strode up and down with noiseless tread, +apparently waiting to see whether his friend, who had received so +severe a shock, stood in any need of his help or his advice. Ten +minutes passed, and neither of them had uttered a word more. + +"You will permit me to light a cigarette," growled Schnetz at length, +between his teeth; "the lady of the house seems to have no intention of +showing herself again--" + +At this moment the door of the neighboring room opened, and Irene +entered, paler than before, and with such an agitated, sad expression +upon her young face, that Schnetz gazed upon her with a feeling of +remorse. + +No sooner had the door begun to creak than her uncle sprang up, hastily +pressed his friend's hand, and whispered to him that he must speak with +him about this matter at all hazards; then he rushed out without a +glance at his ward. + +The extraordinary haste with which he retreated did not seem to strike +Irene as at all strange. She advanced quickly to the window at which +Schnetz was standing, and said: + +"Were you really in earnest about your invitation to the masquerade?" + +He assured her that it would afford him the greatest pleasure to +accompany her; all the more because, after what had been said on the +subject, he should consider it not only as a proof of her confidence in +him, but even as a token of true friendship and esteem, if she would +not refuse to accept his invitation. + +She went on to ask whether she would be allowed to come in a plain +domino and mask--talking all the time with a half-absent expression. + +He replied that only masks in costume would be admitted. As she +considered four days to be too short a time for getting ready a +complete costume, he proposed to her that, since she expressed herself +as willing to be admitted to Bohemia, she should come as a gypsy. He +offered to provide her, through his artist friends, with beautiful and +genuine materials. It would be very easy for her to get plenty of +bright coral and pearl ornaments and strings of coins with which to +ornament her hair; and he would take her to some stores where such +things could be bought. This costume, he concluded, would have the +double advantage of being easily gotten up with a few feathers and +scraps, and of permitting the wearer--since masks for the face were +prohibited--to dye her skin, to blacken her eyebrows, and to make +herself as unlike herself as possible. "I, myself, always appear as a +Spaniard, as the Knight of the Rueful Countenance, or as Duke Alba. If +I could have a Gitana upon my arm, I should be quite in character, and +should create a sensation for the first time; for they are not used to +seeing me appear with a beautiful partner." + +As he said this he kissed the young lady's hand, quite in the courtly +Spanish manner, and made as though he would take leave. But she still +held him tightly. + +"Will--that girl come, too?" she said, hesitatingly. + +"What girl, Fräulein?" + +She looked steadily before her. "I heard all!" she said, with a slight +tremor in her voice. "The walls in this hotel are so thin that one +cannot help overhearing, in spite of one's self, all that is being said +in the next room. Oh, tell me candidly; is it really true?" + +"Unquestionably. My dear young lady, if you were a little better +acquainted with the society which surrounds you, you would find this +case by no means an extraordinary one. Besides, the circumstances are +favorable enough this time. Her own grandfather has already taken his +long-lost granddaughter in charge; so jealously, indeed, that he would +not give her up to her father, even if the latter wished it; and the +girl herself is good and respectable. She is--" + +"I know her," interrupted Irene, blushing. "And yet--it would agitate +me greatly if I should chance to meet her at the ball. There are all +sorts of--I will tell you some other time, if you feel interested." + +She suddenly broke off, and he saw that she was struggling with her +tears. + +"You may make your mind easy, my dear Fräulein," said he, taking up his +hat and whip. "The poor child will not be present. She is in such a +strange mood since she went to live with her grandfather, and so +carefully avoids meeting any one who knew her under former +circumstances, that all the power in the world could not induce her to +visit our Paradise. But seriously, now--_á Dios_, as we Spaniards say. +Be of good courage; I believe everything will turn out better than we +dream of now." + +He gave the hand of the speechless girl a hearty pressure, and left her +alone with her aching heart, which found that it could do nothing wiser +than relieve itself by a flood of tears. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + +It so happened that, in another room of the same house, and at almost +exactly the same hour, the pleasures of the masquerade in Paradise +formed the subject of conversation. + +For some weeks past Rosenbusch had intended to make inquiries +concerning the health of his Russian patroness, who, as he knew, was +confined to her room by a slight injury to her foot. He felt it +incumbent on him to show himself a young man who respected the laws of +politeness and society, although he was a disciple of the liberal arts. + +He found the countess in her bedroom, which smelled of Russian leather +and cigarettes. A samovar and an empty champagne bottle stood on the +table by the bed, and all kinds of note-books, portfolios, French +books, and photographs lay about upon the chairs. Nelida reclined upon +the bed, robed in a long silk dressing-gown, with a black point-lace +veil thrown nun-fashion over her dark hair. She looked paler than in +the summer, and, as she extended her white hand to the painter with a +gracious smile, he was forced to admit to himself that she perfectly +understood the art of making as much capital as possible out of her +suffering condition, and of appearing still more interesting in her +enforced quiet than in her usual activity. + +She was not alone. The retired singer, who appeared to be regularly +installed as her companion, and who was at the moment engaged in the +back part of the room in poking the fire in the grate, had been sitting +in the chair which was now offered to Rosenbusch. + +Opposite the bed, in a low arm-chair, sat a younger lady, whom +Rosenbusch had not seen before, and who immediately attracted his +artistic eye. Was she a married woman or a girl? The countess did not +mention her name. But, although the soft fullness of her figure seemed +rather to indicate the mature woman, the features of the charming face +and the glance of the dark-blue eyes had a soft and dreamy expression +that was altogether maidenly. Then, too, she looked very girlish when, +chancing to look up suddenly from the embroidery on which she was +engaged, she gazed with innocent wonder straight into the face of the +speaker, then opened her lips in a laugh which displayed two rows of +the most beautiful little teeth, and the next instant bent down her +head again as if in confusion, until her thick brown hair fell low over +her forehead. + +Rosenbusch, who was smitten at once, would very gladly have drawn a +little nearer to this enchanting stranger. But the countess took +complete possession of him, making him give her a circumstantial +account of his doings and actions, and expressing an unusual interest +in the "Battle of Lützen," which was now finished. As she was a perfect +mistress of the art of making every one believe that his particular +plans and aims were of more importance to her than anything else, +Rosenbusch did not remark, in the joy of his heart, that, in spite of +her interest in him, she yawned several times, but went on talking +about anything that came into his head--about his labors, his ideas of +art, his friends, and finally about the masked ball in Paradise. He +related, among other things, that Jansen would appear in a genuine +Venetian costume, and his betrothed in a corresponding one, which was +to be exactly copied from a portrait by Paris Bordone, in red velvet +with a little gold embroidery, and which would go marvelously well with +her pale complexion and the dull-gold color of her hair. + +While he was giving this description the beautiful stranger let her +embroidery fall in her lap, and fixed her eyes upon the speaker with +the curious expression of a child listening to a fairy tale. + +"Such a costume would be exceedingly becoming to you also, madame," +stammered the painter, who now for the first time addressed a direct +remark to the unknown person. + +She laughed absently, sighed, but said nothing. + +Nelida exchanged a quick glance with her, and then asked, as if to give +the conversation another turn, what costume Rosenbusch had chosen for +himself. The truth was, he candidly replied, his means did not permit +him to make any very great display; he should put himself into a +Capuchin's cowl, which would go exceedingly well with his beard, and, +since he was always expected on such occasions to deliver some poetical +effusion, he hoped this time to get out of the affair with a regular +Capuchin sermon. + +"No doubt you will compose a very talented and witty one," said the +countess. "But wouldn't this costume be exceedingly warm and +uncomfortable if worn long; and will it be easy for you to find a dress +for your partner that will match yours?" + +"My dear countess," sighed Rosenbusch, "I am unfortunately in a +position to bear the vow of celibacy much more easily than most of the +brothers of my order. The only partner in whom I could take any +interest--But I won't bore the ladies with my private affairs." + +"No, no, don't say that, my dear Herr Rosenbusch. Confess everything +boldly. You will find the most sympathetic appreciation here." + +"Well, then, I will tell you. I had engaged a young girl for this ball, +who, I am convinced, would unquestionably have borne off the prize from +all but the beautiful Julie. But her parents--bigoted, narrow-minded +shopkeepers--cannot be persuaded to allow the poor thing this innocent +pleasure. So you will readily understand, ladies, that I would rather +throw myself into the arms of celibacy than take up with the first one +who comes along." + +He grew red, and wiped his forehead with his gloved right hand. + +Nelida again exchanged a look with the stranger. The singer, too, now +that she felt relieved from the fear of being recognized by Rosenbusch, +had stepped up to the foot of the bed, and seemed to follow the +conversation with especial interest. + +"Perhaps," said the countess, smiling--"perhaps I may be able to +provide you with a substitute, who will in some degree make good your +loss. A moment before you came in we were saying how cruel it was of +Fate to keep me here in my room at the very time of the carnival! It is +true my dancing days are past. But my dear friend here, Madame--Madame +von St.-Aubain, a good German, by-the-way, in spite of her name-- Only +think, my principal object in inviting her to see me at this time was +in order that I might show her our Munich carnival, and now she is +forced to sit here at the side of my bed and practise the Christian +virtues of patience and charity! To be sure, if she could only find a +knight to whom I dared trust her with a good conscience--" + +"O countess!" interrupted Rosenbusch, springing up enthusiastically, +"are you really in earnest? Madame would not scorn to--" + +"You are very good, sir," lisped the stranger, in a soft, pleasing +voice, which completed the conquest of our friend's heart. "It is true +that it is my greatest wish to catch a stolen glimpse of the life that +goes on in this artists' world, about whose festivals I have heard so +much. But I am too timid to venture into a perfectly strange circle, +even under the most chivalrous protection, when, as you say, masks for +the face are prohibited." + +"I understand you perfectly, madame!" cried Rosenbusch, +enthusiastically. "It is the custom to attribute such wild things to us +artists that a lady belonging to high society might well be terrified +by them. But you shall see yourself that we are better than our +reputation. Allow me to make a proposal. I will provide you with a +monk's dress similar to my own. In order to remain unrecognized you +have only to pull the cowl over your head; and if, in addition to this, +you should fasten on some white eyebrows and a beard of the same color, +you could observe all that was going on as securely as if you were +behind a curtain or in a dark theatre-box, without anyone having a +suspicion how much grace and beauty--excuse these bold compliments--is +hidden behind this plain disguise. The only possible suspicion that +could arise would be that I led on my arm that young girl--that +obedient daughter of cruel parents, who had secretly managed to escape +from her cage." + +The stranger stood up, approached the bed, and, bending over the +countess, exchanged a few low words with her. In motion she appeared +even more attractive than in repose. Rosenbusch, who was completely +carried away, could not take his eye from this beautiful yet delicate +figure, and awaited with beating heart the result of the secret +consultation. + +At last she turned to him again, fixed her soft eyes on his face, as if +she wanted to convince herself once more that she might put confidence +in him, and then said: + +"I will really venture to do it, sir, but only under two conditions: +that you will not betray to any of your friends, even by a syllable, +that the mask at your side is a stranger, and not the person for whom +they will all take her; and that, further, you will take me out of the +company and see me to my carriage as soon as I ask you to. You need not +fear," she continued, slyly smiling, "that I will trouble you long. But +I really can't resist the desire to see so many celebrated artists +together, to admire their costumes and the beautiful women they will +bring with them. The best way will be for you to go without me, and +when the festivities are well under way--say about eleven o'clock--I +will be in the carriage at the garden-gate, where you will be so good +as to meet me. Do you agree to this, and will you give me your word +that you will strictly adhere to these conditions?" + +Rosenbusch, before whose fancy very different visions of splendor were +floating, and who was secretly convinced that he would succeed in +persuading the beautiful stranger to lay aside her disguise and shine +with him in Paradise the moment the festive spirit of the ball seized +upon her, very wisely refrained from making any objections to this +plan, and solemnly promised everything that was asked of him. He agreed +to bring the costume and all the other requisites to the hotel on the +day before the festival, for the countess insisted upon dressing her +friend in the monk's cowl with her own hands; and then he took leave in +no slight state of excitement over his unexpected good fortune. + +On the stairs he suddenly recollected Stephanopulos, and his relation +to the Russian lady. For a moment it struck him as rather strange that +the countess, since she seemed so anxious to introduce her friend to +Paradise, had not made use of this cavalier, inasmuch as she personally +could not avail herself of his escort. + +"Perhaps," thought he, complacently stroking his beard, "she is jealous +in regard to this young sinner and Don Juan, and doesn't care about +trusting this charming woman to his charge. It is possible also that +the lady herself may have expressed an aversion for this Greek +adventurer. At all events, I seem to be more agreeable to her. A +confoundedly charming little woman! I wonder where her husband keeps +himself? or possibly she is a widow. If that were the case--" + +He did not finish the sentence, even in his thoughts, for some one came +down the steps behind him, and he immediately recognized the old baron +whom he had seen out at Rossel's villa. But what had happened to the +merry old gentleman that made him answer the artist's greeting so +mechanically, and pass him, as he stood waiting on the stairs, with a +wild look, as if he had been an utter stranger? + +Rosenbusch followed him, shaking his head. "What devilish short +memories these aristocrats have!" he growled. "If this Madame von +St.-Aubain is made of the same stuff, I confess I should have a jollier +time with Nanny. However, it can't be helped; that is one of the +disadvantages of moving in the highest circles. In Rome one must do as +the Romans do." + +He threw his cloak in picturesque folds about his historical velvet +jacket, and stepped forth into the snow with the joyful mien of a +conqueror. His only sorrow was that he couldn't go at once to Angelica +and tell her what a brilliant conquest he had made. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + +Among all the friends, Felix was the only one who looked forward to the +ball not only without impatience, but even with a secret aversion. He +was in no mood for masquerading; and, if he had not been afraid of +giving offense to the good companions who were desirous of paying him +this last honor, he would have been up and away long before this. He +gave out that it was his fixed intention to leave on the day after the +ball, and answered all objection in regard to the season, which made a +sea-voyage impossible, by saying that he had important business matters +to look after in his native place, the sale of his estates, and the +making out of certain papers that it would be necessary for him to take +with him across the ocean. + +Jansen alone knew the real reason of his hasty flight. Daily +intercourse with his old friend, and the confidential understanding +that had once more sprung up between them, was all that lightened for +Felix the painful burden of these last days. It is true Jansen had +never been able to bring himself to initiate Felix into the history of +his unhappy marriage as thoroughly as he had Julie. That he had once +thrown himself away on an unworthy woman, and that he was now doing all +in his power to effect a dissolution of the hated bond, but without +success, since he had no legal proofs of her guilt, and she herself +obstinately refused to give the child up to him--all this they had +discussed one night over a bottle of wine, and had finally consoled +themselves with the thought that the land across the ocean might +eventually prove a place of refuge for Jansen also. Felix laughingly +suggested that they should undertake a mission, and preach the gospel +of high art to the redskins; and they had discussed the prospect of +winning over some American Cr[oe]sus, and, by some colossal work, +suddenly attracting the eyes of the whole world upon them. + +Then they might found an art society in the backwoods, on a somewhat +different scale from that to which people were accustomed in Germany, +and each member should receive as an initiation present a cast of the +group of Adam and Eve. + +So they went on building castles in the air in the midst of the dark +clouds that overhung their sky; and even Julie joined gladly in this +cheerful tone, though her own heart was very heavy. + +But, as the day of parting drew nearer and nearer, Felix's mood became +steadily more depressed and wretched. Schnetz was almost the only one +of his friends whom he cared to see; and he expended all his eloquence +in trying to persuade him to follow his example and shake the dust of +the Old World from his feet. Why should he lie here and grow rusty? why +should he, in his best years, voluntarily withdraw himself from life +and play the valetudinarian before his time? On the other side of the +water, abilities like his would not be allowed to lie idle, his good +wife would renew her youth again, and he might safely trust to the +Yankees to provide him with plenty of material for the exercise of his +Thersites-like black art during his leisure moments. To all this +Schnetz replied by silently and thoughtfully rubbing his ear, without, +however, giving any reason to believe that he absolutely declined the +proposal. Indeed, he seemed to be bent upon keeping the lonely and +dejected youngster in as good spirits as possible, and was especially +active in trying to laugh away Felix's distaste for the ball, as an +attack of sentimentality that a future American ought not to yield to. +If it was a bother for him to look after a costume, he would be very +glad to lend him a helping hand. + +Felix thanked him for his good-will. He had, among the various relics +of his travels, the complete suit of a Spanish majo, which he had +brought with him from Mexico. The velvet jacket bordered with silver, +the knee-breeches and the gay silk stockings, the red net for the hair, +and whatever else belonged to the complete equipment of a Spanish +dandy, became him excellently; and though in his present mood he had no +thoughts of attempting any conquests, he was, nevertheless, glad that +he would be able to show himself to his artist friends in a genuine +national costume, and not in any patched-up frippery. + +But, when the night of the ball arrived, it was long before he could +make up his mind to put on this gay dress. He had packed his luggage, +paid his landlady, and made all his preparations for departure. When at +last he stood alone before his glass in his empty room, surrounded only +by his trunks, and proceeded to fasten the net in his hair, he could +not help bursting out into a loud laugh, in spite of his melancholy +mood, at the absurdity of his dancing a fandango on the eve of +launching himself into the uncertain future of a life beyond the sea. +The sound of his voice roused old Homo, who never left him now, from +his usual half-slumberous state. The sober animal started, for a +moment, with an almost disapproving air at the internal and external +transformation that had come over Felix; then he rose slowly from his +place near the stove, walked up to his master, and rubbed his broad +nose against his hand. + +"So even you are amazed, old boy," cried Felix, caressing his faithful +companion, "at my merry spirits? Come, you shall experience a still +greater miracle. I will take you with me; you are the only one of your +race on whom the gates of Paradise are not shut." + +He took up a little black wood guitar, which properly belonged to his +costume, and fastened it with red ribbons on the shaggy back of the +dog, who patiently submitted to the process. Then he called his +landlady, cautioned her not to let him sleep too late the next morning, +as he must take the first train, ordered a carriage, and rolled away, +through the mild winter's night, to the English Garden, over the soft +snow that had already begun to thaw in the warm wind. + +He had to pass by Irene's hotel, and he looked up at her dark windows, +and felt surprised that this parting look brought no tears to his eyes. +Indeed he felt as if he were one who had bidden farewell to life; and +only he who lives can sympathize. The dog slept patiently at his feet. +When the carriage jolted over a stone, the strings of the guitar +sounded, and the sleeping animal growled wonderingly in his dreams. + +It was on the stroke of nine when the carriage drew up before the back +entrance to the little garden of Paradise. The dance was to begin at +seven, but it mattered little to Felix how much of it he missed. Not +until he found himself in the vestibule was he able, by a powerful +exertion, to shake off the depression of his spirits and steel himself +to appear cheerful. He was aided in this resolve by the sound of the +music that issued from the dancing-hall, and more especially by the +aspect of Fridolin, the janitor, who, arrayed in the most ridiculous of +costumes, played the part of warder, and permitted no one to enter who +could not prove to his satisfaction that he was one of the invited +guests. He was posted here in the character of the angel with the +flaming sword, in a white, ruffled robe--with a golden girdle, two +immense wings suspended from his back, a rose behind each ear, and a +flaming wooden sword covered with gold-leaf in his hand. In this +costume he sat behind a little table, on which stood an earthenware +beer-mug, and greeted the late guest with a sly and hearty nod of his +elegantly-dressed head, at the same time showing his long white teeth +and bestowing a self-satisfied look upon his costume. Felix stood at +his side convulsed with laughter and full of admiration at the success +of the disguise. + +Herr Rosenbusch had provided him with this beautiful dress, remarked +the old fellow, evidently much flattered at the notice taken of him. +But how handsomely the Herr Baron was dressed, and how glad he was that +he had brought Homo with him! It was right that such an animal should +know what carnival-time was like. This time it was unusually merry +inside there. Each member had been allowed to invite a friend, and he +in his turn to bring a lady; there were fifty or sixty present, to put +it at the lowest figure. But he enjoyed himself best outside here, for +the beer kept cooler, and he could take a look in from time to time, +especially now when it was probable no one else would come, except a +lady whom Herr Rosenbusch was still expecting. + +Felix completed the paradisiacal mood of the good old man by forcing a +very considerable present into his hand as a parting gift, for he was +not going to visit the studio again. Then he escaped as quickly as +possible from his thanks, and entered the large central hall of +"Paradise," where the dancing was going on, the regular meeting-room +having been transformed on this occasion into a supper-room. + +It took him some time before he could separate the different groups and +distinguish his friends, in the general whirl and confusion. Looking +over the heads of the dancers, he saw half a dozen strange creatures +mounted on a raised platform--gigantic tree-toads, a brown salamander, +and a bat, who, playing upon two or three fiddles, a clarionet, a horn, +and a bass-viol, composed the orchestra. Some of these amphibious +beings, overpowered by the heat, had taken off their heads and fastened +them on their backs, thus presenting a still more fantastic appearance +by the contrast between their bearded, flushed, and very prosaic human +faces and their reptile skins. This feature of the ball was also the +work of the battle-painter, who, having little trouble in arranging his +own costume, had been indefatigable in helping the others by deed and +word. He now approached Felix, skillfully winding his way through the +dancing couples, drew forth a snuff-box and a blue-checked handkerchief +from his brown cowl, and murmured several Latin sentences of welcome +and blessing; and not until he had played his _rôle_ for some time +longer did he gravely shake hands with his laughing friend, and +reproach him for coming too late. + +Felix had no time to excuse himself, for a tall Englishman, who +was just dancing by with a blonde-haired Suabian girl, stopped +suddenly, led his partner out of the dance, and advanced upon our +friend--Elfinger, with Angelica. Then followed another welcome, another +examination of the costumes, and much laughter and admiration. +Angelica, in her pretty national costume, and standing by the side of +the ridiculous caricature that Elfinger carried out with unswerving +dignity, appeared to very great advantage, especially now when the +excitement of dancing caused her eyes to sparkle and her cheeks to +glow. Rosenbusch told them how much trouble he had had in persuading +her to wear this dress, for she had obstinately persisted in coming as +a Dachau peasant-girl, and making a scarecrow of her figure. She was +guilty, unfortunately, of the weakness of not wishing to be conceited, +which all women ought to be, according to the wise decree of +Providence; and to stand aloof in this way from an hereditary sin was +really one of the worst sorts of coquetry, and should be consigned to +eternal punishment by holy men like himself. + +To this the good soul replied in a tone of mock anger, defended herself +bravely against his ecclesiastical arrogance, and refused to listen to +the sermons of any other sect but her own. She gave Felix a most hearty +welcome, but with a certain sly smile, as if she knew of some +particular masquerade joke that was in preparation for him; and then +took him by the hand and led him to Jansen and Julie, who were the +handsomest couple at the ball--"so far, at all events," she added, with +the same mysterious expression as before. + +In order to reach the two, they were obliged to work their way through +the whole length of the hall, and were often delayed by the whirl of +the dancers. So Felix had plenty of time to examine the company. He +recognized but few of them in their costumes. A stout Arab, with a dark +face and wearing a white burnoose, approached him, bowed low with his +hands on his breast, and then withdrew after this dumb greeting to take +possession of a chair at the lower end of the hall. It was only when he +saw the way in which he comfortably settled himself in it that Felix +recognized him. But just as he was on the point of going after Rossel, +a young Greek, gorgeously dressed in full armor, attracted his +attention. He and his partner, a beautiful girl, were dancing madly in +and out among the waltzing couples, yet without creating the slightest +confusion. + +"Stephanopulos!" whispered Felix. "Do you know his partner?" Angelica +shrugged her shoulders, and apparently preferred to leave the question +unanswered. There was no lack of pretty girls, and, although they +belonged to the most different social ranks, they all bore themselves +with the like respectability, and, with all their freedom, with natural +good taste. The young architect stepped up to say good-evening to him. +He wore a becoming Flemish costume, and his companion, who was not +exactly pretty, but looked sensible and modest, was dressed as a +mediæval burgher's daughter, with a large coif and ruffles about the +neck. Then the couple danced a graceful provincial dance to the +_Ländler_ that the band was playing, waltzing round and round in the +same spot, or separating in fantastic figures to approach each other +again and take each other by the finger-tips. + +Kohle also danced, but entirely by himself, in an exceedingly comical +costume, for he represented St. Dionysius, who was accustomed to carry +his decapitated head under his arm. For this purpose he had rigged up +an immense cabbage-head, had painted it and hung it round with long +horse-hairs, while his own head was ingeniously encircled by a huge +aureole, from which there hung a golden fringe covering his face, so +that, from a distance, this yellow, dazzling disk seemed to rest +immediately on the neck. This figure, half ghastly, half droll, slowly +swung itself about among the whirling couples, to the sound of the +music, occasionally going through with a little extemporaneous +buffoonery, especially with the Capuchin, who evinced a deep respect +for the holy man, which he expressed by incessantly offering him his +snuffbox, and by mating frantic efforts to kiss the head of the martyr. + +"Where is Schnetz?" asked Felix. Angelica appeared not to have heard +the question; for just at this moment they arrived at the side of the +hall where the windows were, and where several spectators were sitting, +among them Jansen and his betrothed. "Isn't she adorable?" whispered +Angelica, as she led her companion close up to the couple, who welcomed +him with a joyful exclamation. Indeed, it would have been impossible to +see anything more magnificent than this beautiful blonde girl, dressed +in the rich folds of a dark-red velvet dress, with puffed and slashed +sleeves, her beautiful neck bare, and wearing no other ornament than a +delicate Venetian chain; her blonde hair, slightly curled, flowing +freely over her shoulders, and set off by a few dark flowers. It seemed +to Felix, also, that he had never seen her in her real beauty before +to-day, and the sweetness of her expression completed the charm. Jansen +stood at her side in his dark suit, not less full of dignity and +character, but looking only like a courtier standing by the side of his +princess. They had neither of them danced, for he did not care for it, +and she did not like to fly through the hall with any one else. They at +once offered him a seat by their side, for Elfinger had once more taken +possession of his Suabian maid, and began a pleasant conversation, in +the course of which he could not help noticing that Julie now and then +threw in some playful allusion and smiled slyly, while they were +talking about the most ordinary things, just as Angelica had done +before. He dropped a word or two about his approaching departure, which +they did not seem to hear at all. + +"Have you seen the lieutenant yet?" asked Julie, suddenly. "You ought +to look him up, he has been wandering about the whole room in search of +you. If I remember rightly he just went into the next room, possibly to +console himself with a glass of wine for his ill success in finding +you." + +She smiled and laid one of her beautiful hands in that of her +betrothed, while with the other she played with her black fan. + +Felix rose. A restless curiosity seized upon him. + +"Sha'n't we go into that sanctum, too?" he said. "We might sit down +together at one of the little tables, and have some supper." + +"Perhaps you will find better company," she replied, turning away from +him. "We are a couple of tiresome old lovers, and you are a young +Spanish lion who has not yet found his lioness. Go alone; we will +follow quite soon enough." + +She nodded to him pleasantly, again with a peculiar expression. He left +them, shaking his head, and wound his way through the maze of dancers, +to the real hall of Paradise. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + +He was just crossing the threshold when a well-known voice struck his +ear, proceeding from the corner where the little wine cask lay, covered +up by green oleander bushes. "_Buenas tardes, Señor Don Felix!_ You +come rather late, but not too late to prevent you from dancing yourself +tired. I have the honor to introduce you to one of my countrywomen, a +genuine Gitana. Senorita ----." + +But Felix had long ceased to hear what he said. Before him +stood--Irene. + +She looked marvelously charming as she stood there, her picturesque +shawls and draperies thrown loosely about her, her hair ornamented with +a heavy string of corals and gold coins, large silver rings in her +ears, and her eyebrows slightly darkened and joined together over her +proud little nose by a delicate line! And how her cheeks glowed at this +sudden meeting with him whom, after all, she had expected, and for +whose sake she had thus adorned herself; how she cast down her +eyes--and breathed hard--and tried to smile, and yet had enough to do +to keep back the tears that were welling up behind her eyelashes! + +For a minute or two Schnetz stood gazing with delight at this most +charming of all pantomimes. Then he came to the assistance of the +embarrassed couple. + +"You are not altogether unacquainted with each other," said he, in his +driest manner. "Senorita Gitana has to thank this noble Andalusian for +saving her life from the tempestuous waves of the lake of Starnberg. He +will now steer her quite as safely through the dangers of a waltz, +better, most certainly, than your humble servant, whose strut might +possibly strike her as rather too Spanish. So at it, youngster! pluck +up courage and lead the Gitanilla to the dance. After that she will +show you how to read your future from your hand." + +Felix recovered himself by a violent effort. "Shall we dance?" +stammered he, in a scarcely audible voice, as he stepped up to Irene. + +She nodded assent, and the glow on her face burned hotter, but she +spoke not a word, and did not even raise her eyes. She seemed to him so +utterly transformed that, even now, when he felt her hand resting on +his arm, and saw her gliding along at his side, he was almost inclined +to doubt again whether it could really be she. He had never seen her so +yielding, so tremblingly timid, so incapable of uttering a word; and +now when he held her close and swung her in the dance, he felt more +than once as if he were whirling about in one of those strangely happy +dreams that change, in some curious way, the most familiar features, +and lead us only into the arms of the unattainable. + +Yet, all the while he felt so wonderfully happy that he was content to +leave everything just as it was, and strove only to clasp this miracle +as closely as possible to his breast, and to enjoy the full blessedness +of this meeting as long as the dream would last. Nor did she try to +resist; indeed, she herself felt as if it were a necessity for her +to press her head and glowing face close to his shoulder, and, with +half-closed eyes, to submit herself absolutely to his guidance. He +could not see her face, for she held her head bent down; but his eyes +rested on her soft, brown hair, and his arm, clasped about her waist, +could feel how her heart was beating. No word came from the lips of +either of these two happy beings; they did not even press one another's +hands in silent sympathy, for the simple reason that both felt that +there was nothing special for them to communicate--two souls had merely +become one again. Nor did they take heed of those about them, who gazed +with earnest interest upon this noble couple the moment they entered +the room--the strangers with simple pleasure, or perhaps here and there +with envy, the initiated with heart-felt joy at the triumphant success +of their work. + +For them there was no outside world at this moment, no friends or +strangers. Besides the beating of their own hearts they felt nothing +but the music; and it seemed to them a heavenly kindness on the part of +fortune, that allowed them to dance instead of forcing them to talk +with one another; that the wild and merry tones of the instruments gave +them wings that lifted them above the earth, the one clasped as tightly +to the other as only the dance could have made permissible before so +many witnesses. + +Neither of them felt the slightest fatigue, or thought of stopping to +rest. Indeed, when the music finally came to an end, it seemed to them +as if they had just begun; and they stood in the middle of the hall, +startled, and almost painfully still, clasped in one another's embrace +as they had been in the waltz. His arm reluctantly released her figure, +but he could not bring himself to give up her little slender hand. +However, this did not appear to attract any attention, since the other +couples also were very tender with one another, and had quite enough to +do in looking after their own affairs. + +None of their intimate friends crossed their path. So the _majo_ +succeeded in leading his gypsy unchallenged into the adjoining room, +from which even Schnetz had taken care to steal away. + +They walked arm-in-arm, vigorously fanning themselves, down the +flower-decked side of the hall, past the little tables, and stood +suddenly, before they suspected it, before the buffet, which had been +put up at the other end, and before which a number of waiter-girls were +selling cold viands, cake, ice, and various kinds of drinks. + +"Will you drink something?" he said. + +It was the first word he had addressed to her. It struck him as being +very stupid that he had nothing more important to say to her after such +a long silence. But she did not appear to think it strange at all. + +She shook her head quite seriously, drew off her glove, and took a +large orange from one of the plates. "That is better after dancing," +she said, in a low voice. "Come, let us eat it together." + +They seated themselves at one of the small tables, and she drew off the +other glove and began to peel and divide the beautiful fruit with her +white little fingers. But all the while she never looked at him. + +"Irene!" he whispered--"is it really possible? You are here--I--we are +so unexpectedly brought together again." + +"Not unexpectedly," replied she, in a still lower tone; "I knew that +you would come--and that is the only reason why I came myself. Do you +believe I cared anything for the dancing and the masks? Feeling as I +did--" + +Her voice failed her. The tears rose to her eyes. He bent down close to +her, and pressed his lips to the little hands that were so busily at +work. + +She gave a slight start. "Oh! don't, please!" she whispered, +pleadingly. "Not here, they can see us. O Felix! is it really true? You +are going away--away forever?" + +He did not answer for a moment, but sat absorbed in the happiness of +being so near her, of listening to her voice, of feeling her warm +breath as it came from her sweet lips. A reckless joy took possession +of his heart, an exhilarating determination to face boldly whatever +fate might have in store for him. + +"Why talk of such sad things?" said he at length--for she still kept +her anxious gaze fixed upon him, and seemed unable to understand the +joy that lit up his face--"there will be time enough for that later on, +when the ball is over and the intoxication gone, and the harsh daylight +shines once more upon our lives. This is my first happy evening for +many months; I thank you for giving it to me. I always knew that you +loved me, and if I were only a different man from what I unfortunately +am--" + +"O Felix!" she pleaded, looking him full in the face. "You grieve me; +it is not kind of you to shame me so, for I suffered so much before I +could bring myself to admit my fault and see myself as you must have +seen me for a long time past. O Felix! that you could love me in spite +of all--that you could grieve for me--but wait! I have a thousand +things to tell you--I must tell you them to-night--at once--but not +here among all these merry people--and look there, I see some of your +friends coming--only tell me how and where--" + +He had no time to answer, for at this moment Jansen approached, with +Julie hanging on his arm, both with faces that made no attempt to +conceal the part that they had taken in bringing about this great +happiness. They refrained, however, from making any remarks that might +embarrass the young couple, and simply invited them to be their +_vis-à-vis_ in a quadrille that was just going to begin. A pressure of +the hand from Jansen was all that passed between the two friends in +regard to the event. But Jansen and Julie helped to eat the oranges +that were divided into sections and passed about by Irene; then, +separating into couples again, they entered the hall, where the other +couples had already taken their places. + +However, they were by no means sorry to be left alone, and they got up +a quadrille of their own in one of the corners near the windows, with +Schnetz and Angelica and the Capuchin and the headless martyr for side +couples. + +And indeed these eight figures were well calculated to afford an +inexhaustible fund of amusement for one another, and the novelty of the +contrast between the two beautiful and the two grotesque couples +attracted around them all those outsiders who, for one reason or +another, had not taken part in the dance. Nothing could have been finer +or more pleasing than when this blonde, blooming Venetian figure, +in the fullness of its ripe beauty, advanced to meet this slim, +foreign-looking, dazzling gypsy, and the hands of the two charming +creatures met, and their eyes beamed upon one another. On the other +hand, it was one of the funniest and most picturesque sights imaginable +when gaunt Alba bore down with his stiff, spidery walk upon the holy +martyr, while the Capuchin paid homage to the Suabian maiden in all +kinds of cringing and fawning attitudes. The latter seemed to be the +happiest one in the whole company at the success of the plan, +concerning which Schnetz had given her a hint some time before. She was +perpetually making mistakes in the different figures of the quadrille, +for she was always studying either the Spanish or the Venetian girl, +and was, moreover, obliged to communicate to her partner her +observations in regard to their particular fine points. She afterward +found a still more attentive listener in Rossel, who had seated himself +near by in the character of a spectator, holding Homo between his +knees, and now and then sweeping with a careless hand the strings of +the guitar that the faithful old animal still bore upon his back. + +When the dance ended, Julie, whose heart was glowing with gladness and +love, could not refrain from taking Irene to her arms and imprinting on +her lips the congratulation she did not dare to put in words. Irene +understood her, and blushed; but she returned the embrace with hearty +good-will, and nodded also to Angelica as if she were an old friend. +Then she took Felix's arm, and allowed him to escort her to the +supper-room. + +"Shall we take a seat at the little table again?" she asked. + +He shook his head. + +"I must be still more alone with you," he said. "Only be brave and +follow me. The air here begins to be oppressive." + +"Where are you going to?" + +"Outside. Not a breath of wind is stirring, and it is the most +beautiful spring-like weather. And you are not heated at all! I will +wrap you up in my cloak. Take my word for it, we will not even catch a +cold in the head." + +"Go out into the dark garden?" She involuntarily slackened her step. +"What will they think of us?" + +"That we love one another, my darling, and want to be alone. Besides, +it will occur to very few of these good people to miss us, or to make +any remarks about the subject. And since you have once ventured into +this bad society, and no one knows what may happen to-morrow, and +whether there will still be time then--" + +"You are right," she interrupted hastily. "It was merely the last sign +of the stupid old habit. Come; I think myself I should not be alive +to-morrow if the night passed without my having told you everything." + +He drew her close to his side, and they left the hall together. The +angel with the flaming sword had fallen asleep over his mug of beer; +but as Felix had been the last to arrive, he easily found his hat and +cloak in the dressing-room without Fridolin's assistance. He carefully +wrapped a large woolen shawl, which he recognized as belonging to +Angelica, about the head and shoulders of his sweetheart, and then +threw his own cloak over the whole, so that she would have been well +protected even for a colder night. + +"But don't cover up your face entirely; I must have a chance to find +your lips!" he whispered, and immediately kissed her as if to put her +to the test. But she held him tight, and with a passionate submission, +of which he had hardly believed her capable, returned his kiss and held +up her glowing face to his, submitting to his stormy caresses in happy +confusion, and returning them anew. + +Not until she was startled by a noise did she ask him in a pleading +voice to desist. Then he put his arm about her and went out with her +into the mild winter's night, covered peacefully in its snowy mantle. +No star looked down from heaven, but it seemed to these two happy +beings, wandering all alone among the trees, as if the world about them +were in flames, and they were walking through it unscathed, for in +their hearts there raged a hotter fire. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + +In the mean time the ball went on, notwithstanding the absence of this +happy couple, and no one seemed to miss anything. But the later it grew +the more impatiently did the eyes of the red-bearded Capuchin wander +toward the door through which he was expecting the angel of Paradise to +enter and announce that a guest in a cowl was standing outside the door +and waiting for admission. He racked his brains in the vain effort to +imagine what could possibly have detained his lady, who, only a short +time before, had expressed such a strong desire to be present at the +masquerade; and when it struck eleven, and nothing had appeared, he +secretly gave up the affair as lost. As he had made up his mind that +the mysterious stranger would in the end reveal herself in all her +beauty, and afford him an opportunity to celebrate a great triumph, he +naturally felt very much put out at finding that he had been playing a +fool's part, and he slunk about as embarrassed and wretched as a wet +sparrow. + +But his distress proved useless, after all. The intermission that +preceded the cotillon had begun, and every one had streamed into the +supper-room to eat and drink, when Fridolin, entering the hall with his +flaming sword under his arm, nodded to him mysteriously, and whispered +that there was some one outside who wished to speak with him. The monk +rushed into the hall with most unclerical haste, and was not +disappointed. She whom he expected stood before him. + +She acknowledged his welcome, but in such a formal tone that he found a +good deal of difficulty in stammering out some gallant reproaches for +her late arrival. Her chief anxiety seemed to be that her disguise was +not sufficient to prevent her from being recognized. When he had +somewhat relieved her fears on this score and had, as an additional +precaution, arranged her white eyebrows and beard so that they should +cover a little more of the delicate face, she asked why no music could +be heard from the hall. He explained to her the reason of the pause, +and wanted to escort her in without further ceremony. But she insisted +upon waiting until the dance should begin again, and begged him to +leave her and rejoin the company until that time. + +His chivalrous heart would not consent to this, so he staid outside +with the beautiful unknown, who had taken possession of the chair at +Fridolin's table, and who answered in monosyllables to his neat +speeches and appeared to be in a strange state of excitement, and +entirely absorbed in her own thoughts. + +At length, the first sound of the fiddle inside gave the signal for his +release; but not until the trembling of the floor made it apparent that +the couples had once more begun the dance, did the muffled figure rise +and seize the arm of her companion. Rosenbusch felt that she trembled +slightly; he could not imagine what should make her, but he was already +too much abashed by her reserve to rally her upon her strange timidity. + +The fact that the friar had suddenly associated himself with a +colleague did not at first make the sensation he had expected. Then, +when the attention of one person after another was drawn to the pair of +monks, there was no doubt in the mind of any one as to the identity of +the smaller friar, who betrayed the woman both in manner and carriage. +The love affair of the battle-painter was too well known not to make +every one suspect that the thick white beard, and the bushy eyebrows, +concealed the features of the fair Nanny. The fact of her coming so +late confirmed this supposition. She had been obliged to wait until her +parents were asleep, so that she might steal to the ball undetected. +They all wished her hearty joy of her stolen pleasure, and were only +surprised--since no one doubted her fondness for dancing--that she did +not at once join her companion in a waltz, instead of drawing her cowl +still lower over her eyes and walking slowly past the different groups, +examining the costumes with a searching glance. + +In this fashion the couple had already passed down the whole length of +the hall, when this puzzling woman suddenly stood still and dropped her +companion's arm. Her movement was so violent that Rosenbusch gazed at +her in amazement. He saw that her eyes were fixed intently upon the +seats near the window, where Jansen and Julie, and some of the others +who did not care to dance, had again taken their places. But the dance +had just come to an end, and those who had been seated had risen in +order to mingle with the crowd. The blue eyes under the white eyebrows +followed them eagerly, and seemed to take no notice of anything else +that passed around them. So much so, at all events, that the efforts of +the tall Englishman, who wished the decapitated martyr to introduce him +to the new monk, might just as well have been addressed to a statue. + +"What is the matter, madame?" whispered Rosenbusch. "You have grown +very pale; I can see that notwithstanding your cowl. I will lead you to +the chairs--you must rest a moment. That noble Venetian over there is +my friend Jansen, a splendid sculptor, and the beautiful woman on his +arm--" + +But she was not listening. Without taking his arm again, she had +stepped forward to the empty seat and sunk into a chair. + +Rosenbusch stood before her in great embarrassment. He knew less and +less what to make of this extraordinary creature. + +He was just thinking that he would try and give a humorous turn to the +affair, by reminding her that she was in Paradise and not in a convent, +when he saw her leap up as if she were set on springs. + +She had been frightened by the sound of a deep, angry growl. She +turned, trembling from head to foot, and beheld the old dog, who had +been sleeping behind the chair, as his custom was, but who now raised +himself up, and, wagging his shaggy tail back and forth, fixed a pair +of glowing eyes upon the guest. + +"Take me away!--take me away!" she whispered to Rosenbusch, and seized +his arm. "That furious beast--don't you see how he glares at me? Good +Heavens, how frightened I am!" + +"Don't be at all alarmed, dear madame; it is only old Homo. Here, in +Paradise, where the lion lies down by the lamb--" + +She clung convulsively to his sleeve, and drew him away from the +windows. But it really did seem as though the strange old animal, who +paid no attention whatever to the other figures, took a particular +interest in the Capuchin's double. + +He followed the couple with stately, dignified step, no matter in which +direction they turned, shaking his big ears from time to time and +emitting that hoarse growl which, with him, was always a sign of +violent excitement. + +"For God's sake, free me from this monster!" cried the frightened +woman, in a choking voice. "I have an unconquerable horror of all dogs, +even when they are gentle. And this one--unless you put him out you +will force me to leave the hall." + +"Down, Homo!--down, old boy!" said the battle-painter, looking round +for Jansen with growing embarrassment, for he did not dare to turn out +this old and honored guest of Paradise upon his own responsibility. But +the animal seemed no longer to recognize the voice of his friend and +house-mate. As Rosenbusch put out his hand in order to take him by the +collar and gently conduct him out, a howl burst from his throat, so +fierce and threatening, that every one standing near started back in +alarm. The familiar sound reached Jansen's ear also. + +"What's the matter with the old fellow?" he said, listening. "I must go +and see," and with these words he turned away from Julie, who, with +Angelica, was just on the point of going in search of the young couple +whose disappearance they had at last begun to notice. + +The music, which had just begun again, broke off suddenly, for a second +howl was heard through the room. + +At this moment Jansen reached the group that had gathered about the +dog, and called him by name. The animal obediently turned his head +toward his master; but, when his victim tried to take advantage of this +movement to slip away quickly in the crowd, the dog gave forth a still +more angry growl, leaped with a powerful spring after the retreating +figure, and caught the end of the gown in his teeth. + +"Back, Homo! Come here--back!" cried Jansen, in a voice of command. + +But the animal continued to keep his hold. A low cry came from beneath +the cowl, and the little hand which was carefully held before the face +trembled violently, while the other struggled to tear loose the gown. +At this moment, Stephanopulos forced his way through the stupefied +crowd of spectators. With a quick movement he seized the furious animal +by the throat, with the intention of forcing it back. The dog's teeth +let go the gown, but, though a wild howl came from his powerful throat +and his eyes turned with a furious glare upon the bold intruder, he +succeeded in laying his heavy forepaws on the cord that answered for a +girdle, and with such violence that the muffled figure staggered and +fell upon the floor. The animal at once laid one of his paws upon the +prostrate figure, and, with a loud bark of triumph and violently +lashing his tail back and forth, stood by the side of his prey, with an +aspect so horrible that even Jansen recoiled from him. + +True, it was not this sudden outbreak of fury in his old companion that +made him stagger back and stare in horror at the prostrate figure. In +her confusion and alarm the stranger had let her cowl fall back, her +white beard drop off, and for a few seconds they saw a woman's pale +face looking out from the disguise long enough for it to be recognized +by Jansen and the young Greek at his side. + +"Are you crazy?" cried the latter, excited still more by the sudden +discovery. "Why do you stand there like a statue? Drag off this mad +beast before an accident happens, or by all the devils--" + +Jansen did not move. His face was ashy pale; they could see his teeth +clinched tightly behind his parted lips. All around was breathless +stillness, broken only by the heavy breathing of the dog. + +"Then we must help ourselves as best we can!" cried Stephanopulos. "To +hell with this devil's brute!" + +Quick as a flash he unsheathed a long dagger that was stuck in his +belt, and before any one could interfere he had driven the sharp steel +down the wide-opened throat of the old animal. + +A frightful howl, stifled the next moment by a stream of blood, and +then the powerful animal fell back, and, with a dull rattling in the +throat, dropped dead beside the woman in the cowl. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + +All this time the two lovers outside in the garden, absorbed in their +happiness, and covered warm with Felix's broad Spanish cloak, had heard +nothing of the gathering storm within-doors, and had not noticed that +the clouds had begun to dissolve in a fine rain. But in a little while +the wind began to rise, shaking the soft snow from the branches, and +driving the cold drops of rain into their faces. + +Even then Irene expressed no desire to be taken back into the house. +She would have liked to wander by his side forever, through rain and +storm. But he, careful of her health, laughingly insisted upon +"bringing his little lamb under cover." "We must take care not to catch +cold," he said. "There are certain times when a cold stands very much +in the way of lovers. Come, my darling! I feel as if I should like to +dance all night long with you. Good Heavens! what work we shall have in +making up for lost time!" + +She hung on his arm in full submission. But at this moment they heard +the dying howl of the old animal, horribly breaking in upon the +stillness of the night. + +"What is that?" said Felix. "That sounds altogether too serious for any +masquerading joke. In the tropics I was used to such nocturnal voices, +and slept quietly in spite of them. But here, under this wintry sky--" + +He hurried her toward the house. Then they saw a back-door suddenly +thrown open, and two muffled figures rush out hastily and run toward a +carriage that was standing waiting in the side-street, about thirty +steps from the house, just as on the night when the burning picture +disappeared. + +They could distinguish nothing but the outline of a monk's cowl. + +"Rosenbusch!" cried Felix. + +But this call merely had the effect of causing the fleeing persons to +redouble their speed. The next moment they reached the carriage, and +something white gleamed in the darkness, which Felix's keen eye thought +it recognized as the fustanella of the young Greek; then the door +was slammed-to, and the carriage rolled off into the darkness at a +break-neck pace. + +The pair gazed after it in amazement. + +"What can it mean?" cried Irene. + +Felix said nothing, but shook his head and hurried her on toward the +door. They found Fridolin at his post, but with eyes that glared so +from fright and sudden awakening that they did not stop to ask him any +questions, but, throwing off their wet wraps, hastened into the hall. + +Here a most startling sight greeted their view. + +Jansen was crouched motionless on the floor, holding on his knee the +bloody head of the dog, his gaze fixed on the stiff, outstretched limbs +of his old friend, whose convulsive twitching marked the last pulsation +of his ebbing blood. + +Julie was kneeling at his side, taking no heed of her yellow skirts, +that were spotted with large stains from the dark pool. Their friends +were standing about them, completely stupefied; and even the musicians +crept down from the platform, in their grotesque animal costumes, and +mixed in among the guests. + +At this moment the gaunt figure of Alba, in the shape of their friend +Schnetz, stepped out of the awe-struck crowd, advanced to the +astonished pair, and, taking them aside, told them all that had passed +while they had been out in the garden, pouring out their hearts to one +another in utter ignorance of what was going on within. In what +connection these puzzling occurrences stood to one another, the +lieutenant did not pretend to know. When they recovered from the first +shock, and looked about for the author of the whole trouble, they +discovered that she had disappeared from the hall with the young Greek. + +Rosenbusch then joined them, and Angelica and Elfinger. The +battle-painter was plunged in a truly pitiable state of despondency at +the tragic end of his adventure. Innocent as he was of it all, he +nevertheless persisted in accusing himself of being the author of the +murderous affair by introducing this mysterious guest. He gave a +detailed account of the way in which he had made her acquaintance, and +asserted again and again that she had done absolutely nothing to +provoke the dog. But let that be as it would, the mischief had been +done; the ball was spoiled, and Jansen had lost his good old comrade. + +Felix listened to all this with clouded brow. Then he pushed his way +through the crowd, and went up to Jansen. The dog had just drawn his +last breath. Jansen sprung to his feet when he felt the hand of his +friend on his shoulder. He drew himself up erect, and then raised Julie +from her knees, but without uttering a word, while his bright eyes, +sunk deep in their sockets, wandered slowly about, as if he were trying +to remember where he was. + +"Have they gone?" he said, after a long pause. + +No one answered. Julie took his hand and spoke gently to him, and he +replied by a vacant smile and a nod. Then, with a violent shudder, he +roused himself, and strode out of the group that had gathered about the +dead animal. He advanced to his friends, and, speaking once more in his +usual voice, requested Schnetz to send for a carriage, as he wished to +take the dead dog home. Then, with few words, but with a manner that +forbade all remonstrances, he entreated them not to be disturbed on his +account, and not to leave the ball. He made even Julie promise this, +and forced himself to speak quite as usual. After this he took +Rosenbusch aside, and conversed with him in a low voice for a +considerable time, never lifting his eyes from the floor; finally he +shook hands with him, and left the room. + +Julie and Felix accompanied him out to the carriage, in which the body +of the dog had been already laid. He got in with evident difficulty, +and gave the two at parting a hand that was as cold as ice. He did all +this as if he were still enveloped in some dream, from which even the +presence and sympathy of those most dear to him could not arouse him. + +Fridolin had mounted on the box by the side of the driver, and in this +fashion they pursued their long drive through the cold, rainy night, +and drew up in front of the studio just as the clock was striking +twelve. The driver lent them his assistance in lifting the heavy body +of the dog out of the carriage, and carrying him in. They laid him down +in the little garden behind the house, and, with shovel and pickaxe, +dug a deep grave, into which they lowered the huge animal. The driver +had gone on his way again, and Jansen stood motionless on the brink of +the grave, gazing down on the dark mass that they were leaving there to +crumble into dust. But Fridolin took the two artificial roses which had +belonged to his angel's dress, and which he still wore behind his ears, +and cast them down upon the dead animal. + +"It is winter," he said, "and a dark night; and we have nothing +fresher. But go and get some sleep, Herr Professor. I will put his bed +in order with my spade. And though he was only an animal, perhaps after +all we shall see him again at the resurrection; and if there should be +a heaven for dogs, Herr Professor, he will go there sooner than many a +priest. And why? Because he knew what friendship and kindness meant; +and that is what nine men out of ten don't know; and he never treated a +poor fellow-man like a dog, which can't be said of everybody. I don't +think the good God will object if I offer up a few paternosters for the +poor dog's soul." + +Jansen nodded in silence, and turned away. Then he went into the house, +and stepped into his studio. It was cold as ice in the large room; the +wind roared down the chimney, and rattled in the iron stove. Yet for +all that the unhappy man could not make up his mind to go back to his +lodgings. He threw himself upon the low sofa and spread his cloak over +his benumbed limbs. So he lay there perfectly still, and listened to +the falling of the rain and the noise made by the spade. His eyes were +shut. But for all that he never ceased to see, in the darkness of his +own heart, a pale face, only too well known, from which the mask had +just fallen, and which, despite its frightened, supplicating look, +stared up at him like the head of Medusa. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + +When he started up, late in the morning, after a short sleep, and saw +the snow drifting sadly down outside the window, the face at once rose +up before him again; and the frightened look of those blue eyes, that +he had hoped never to see more, and that now came to begin anew their +designs upon his happiness, made him shudder even more than the harsh +breath of the winter morning. And yet at first he had difficulty in +believing that it had really happened. It was only from his great +exhaustion that he realized what a storm he had passed through. + +He was surprised himself at the stolid, torpid, icy calmness with which +he was able to look back on the frightful scene, as if the apparition +of the night, that yesterday made his hair stand on end, had no power +over him in broad daylight. He thought about the loss of his faithful +old companion too, as something that had happened long ago. But he was +pained by the thought that he had let the faithful animal be buried in +his masquerade trappings, with the gaudy ribbons and the guitar on his +back. He even went so far as to seriously deliberate whether he should +not have the grave opened again and cleared of all the tawdry finery. +However, he put it off until evening; and when evening came he had much +more pressing matters to attend to. + +He was firmly resolved to put an end to this condition of affairs; to +tear the ever-rankling and festering barb from out the wound, let it +cost what it might. How this could best be done he did not know as yet. +But upon one point his mind was definitely made up; he owed it to Julie +to render a repetition of such scenes impossible. + +He left the studio and went into the city. He directed his steps to the +hotel where the Russian countess was staying. To his amazement, he +learned there that no one had ever heard of this Madame St.-Aubain, +which was the name Rosenbusch had given him the preceding evening. The +porter did, indeed, remember a person such as Jansen described; the +lady spent the whole day with the countess no later than yesterday. But +she was not stopping in the hotel, and he had not learned what her name +was. + +He would speak about it to the countess herself: could he see her for a +moment? asked the sculptor. + +The porter looked at his watch. It was only nine o'clock; He had orders +to admit no one before eleven. + +So there was nothing left for him but to be patient, hard as it was. + +Wandering about without any definite plan, his heart led him to where +Julie lived. But, the moment he saw the house in the distance, he +turned back. It was impossible for him to look her in the face again +until he could say to her: "It is all over; you have nothing more to +fear from my past; the spectre has been sent back among the dead." + +He went into the Pinakothek, where at this time of the year and day the +large, unheated halls stand empty. He stretched himself on the sofa +that stands in the centre of the immense room, and looked over the +walls with half closed eyes. The power and warmth of life of these +noble pictures acted, without his knowing it, upon his spirits, and his +mood continued to grow quieter and more gentle, until at last he fell +fast asleep, his hat pushed down so low over his eyes that the +attendants and the few visitors took him for an exceedingly studious +painter, who made use of his hat-brim to protect him from the +reflection of the light from above. + +He had to make up for the sleep he had lost in the night; thus three, +four hours went by without his waking. At length one of the attendants, +to whom the matter began to look rather odd, stepped up and discovered +who it was. However, he had altogether too much respect for the artist +to disturb his sleep before the time came for closing the gallery. +Jansen sprang to his feet, asked what time it was, and was startled to +find how many hours he had lost. He left the gallery in great haste, +and hurried to the hotel. + +The countess was too unwell to receive any visits today, the porter +told him. + +Jansen shrugged his shoulders, growled out a few unintelligible words, +and began to mount the stairs without paying any further heed to this +answer. Up-stairs he received a similar reply from the countess's maid, +who met him in the corridor. + +"Take this card to the countess. I regret to disturb her, but it is +absolutely necessary that I speak with her." + +The girl took the card, acted as though the name which she read on it +was perfectly unknown to her, and then remarked: + +"Just at this moment it is really quite impossible for the countess to +receive you. The doctor is with her and is renewing the bandages. That +always gives her such pain that she is forced to lie perfectly still +for two or three hours after the operation, unless she would have +convulsions. Perhaps, if you would be good enough to call again toward +evening--" + +Jansen gave the tricky girl a look that confused even her brazen face. + +"I am convinced, my good girl, that you are lying to me in the most +cold-blooded manner possible; the doctor is not with your mistress, nor +does she need repose. I have a great mind to thrust you aside and +quietly make my way in for myself. But, in order that your mistress may +be convinced that I am entirely courteous, I will act as though I +really believed you, and call again in a few hours. But then--" and he +raised his voice a little, in case there should be any one behind the +door, listening to the conversation--"then I shall expect that the +nerves of the countess will have nothing to say against my requesting a +ten minutes' interview. It is now two o'clock. At four I shall take the +liberty of knocking again at this door." + +"Perhaps it is just as well," he said, as he went down the stairs. "I +have eaten nothing since yesterday evening. An empty stomach goes badly +with diplomatic negotiations. And I want to keep as cool as possible." + +He stepped into a restaurant, hurriedly took a little food, and +hastened to get out into the street again. He felt better out in the +cold air than anywhere else; he sauntered slowly along, like a +promenader in the most beautiful spring weather, baring his head to the +storm and letting the flakes of snow fall upon his hair and forehead, +so that the people whom he met turned to look after him. As he had a +long time to wait before the appointed hour would arrive, he wandered +through the town, and at last, by roundabout ways, came back once more +to his atelier. Fridolin reported that Miss Julie had been there twice +in person, and the second time had written something. The lieutenant +and the other gentlemen had also been there to see him, and the baron +made him take him to the grave and tell him the whole story. Herr +Rosenbusch was the only one who had not yet appeared, and Fräulein +Angelica had only shown herself a moment, just to water her flowers, +and had gone away again. However, he had made a fire in the studio, and +it was warm in among the saints also, although the assistants had taken +a holiday on their own account. + +Had the professor--for so he obstinately persisted in calling +Jansen--any further orders to give? + +Jansen shook his head and entered his workshop. He found Julie's note. +She begged him, in Italian, which they had been studying together for +some months, to release her from the agonizing uncertainty in regard to +his mood and in regard to what he intended to do. She was only going +out to make a visit to Irene, and then she would stay at home and +expect him. The note closed with a few loving words and another +earnest request for him to come to her that evening, all of which did +him unspeakable good. + +But he remained firm in his determination not to go to her until he had +cleared up the whole matter. + +He sat down on the sofa and had just begun to draw up a small table, in +order to write her a few comforting lines, when a quick knock on the +door interrupted him. + +He was startled to see Frances's nurse come in. This little woman, who +had a houseful of children and a head full of cares, seldom visited +him--and never without her little charge. + +Her black eyes, usually so cheery, began to spy anxiously about in +every corner of the studio, the moment she had entered it. + +"Is your child here?" she stammered breathlessly. + +"With me? No. What made you think so?" + +He stepped up to her hastily. "What is the matter, my good woman? Did +you send little Frances here?" + +"Not here! Oh! Heavens!--but perhaps she may be up-stairs with Fräulein +Angelica--without your knowing about it. I will go right up--" + +"Fräulein Angelica is not up-stairs; I am all alone in the house. Tell +me, for God's sake--" + +He stopped suddenly; a horrible suspicion paralyzed his tongue. + +The exhausted woman sank down on the pedestal of the great group, and +wiped her eyes. + +"The child--?" he asked at length, with great difficulty. + +She looked up at him with supplicating eyes. + +"Don't kill me! I don't know where it is--some one has taken it +away--my anxiety drove me here--I have done all I can!--" + +She seemed to expect nothing less than that he would strike her dead +after hearing this confession. + +But, as he stood motionless, she mustered up courage to tell him, in a +disconnected way, what had happened. She had gone into the city after +dinner, and her old mother had, as usual, taken charge of the children. +Immediately after she went out--as if she had only been waiting for +that--a strange lady had come to the house. + +"Young, with blue eyes?" interrupted the sculptor, with difficulty +unclinching his teeth. + +No. An elderly lady, not far from fifty, dressed in black and heavily +veiled. She asked for Frances, and said she was to bring her to +Fräulein Julie, only for half an hour. It was a surprise they were +preparing for the father, she said; Fräulein Angelica was going to make +a sketch of the child; a drosky was waiting outside the door, and she +asked the good grandmamma to put on the child's little cloak, but not +to make any other change in its dress. The old woman, as soon as her +deafness allowed her to catch the meaning of this story, had thought it +rather strange, at first; but the explanation given by the stranger +that Fräulein Angelica was prevented from coming and getting the child +herself, by a slight cold she had caught on the evening before, had +quieted her again. Besides, the child would be brought back in a couple +of hours; Fräulein Julie would bring it home herself. As the stranger +seemed to be so well acquainted with all the people and circumstances +of which she spoke, the old woman could offer no reasonable objection. +But the stranger had scarcely left the house when she was filled with +an unaccountable anxiety, and had impatiently awaited her daughter's +return. + +She, however, had been detained in the city longer than she had +expected by a number of errands; and, when she finally did return and +found that the child had not been brought back, she immediately set out +in the greatest anxiety to look for it. But she found no trace either +at Julie's (who was herself absent, the old servant Erich said, for she +had not come back to her dinner at the usual time), or at Angelica's +house. At the latter place they told her that the artist had not gone +out until about noon, for she had risen very late; besides, she had +found the weather too dark for working. Her last faint hope had been +that the child would be found at her father's--and here, too, there was +no trace of her! + +The woman's eyes filled with tears while telling him the story. She had +slipped down from the pedestal and now lay, weeping bitterly, at the +feet of the silent man, as if she would disarm his anger by this humble +posture. + +"Calm yourself!" she heard him say at last. "You are innocent in the +whole affair. Believe me; the child is not lost--oh, no! it is in +excellent hands. Can a child be safer anywhere than with the mother who +bore it?" + +The weeping woman raised herself and looked at him inquiringly. + +"Yes, yes!" he repeated, laughing bitterly. "You have never been told +about that, my good friend; it was very thoughtless of me not to have +spoken to you about it the very first thing this morning. My wife has +made her appearance again; she gave me a specimen of her acting last +night--a benefit performance in Paradise--a short scene, but very +effective. And now this is the second act. That the third, in which I +am to play too, will be the last, you may be very sure." + +"She is here, she has the child, and you know where she is to be +found?" + +"Not yet. However, I know some one who knows all about it, whom I think +I can talk into giving me the necessary information. By-the-way, it +must be about the time--almost four o'clock; let us go!" + +"Go alone, unless you have particular need of me. My knees can hardly +bear me. The anxiety--Oh! let me rest here just for a few moments." + +"I'll order a drosky. You mustn't think of walking back such a long +distance. We will ride part of the way together." + +He called the janitor and sent him out for a carriage. Then he paced +with long strides up and down the studio in profound silence, while the +woman sank back into a chair, and struggled hard to compose herself. + +In the midst of this painful stillness, they all at once heard the +voice of the battle-painter in the entry. + +He and Felix came in together, and his unsteady step, pale face, and +disheveled aspect, showed plainly enough that the horrors of the +preceding night were still fresh in his memory. He greeted Jansen with +a most depressed mien, and the jokes that he tried to make sounded +anything but cheerful. He would not have shown himself in such a +wretched condition had he not happened to fall in with something that +might possibly be of importance to Jansen. + +An hour ago he had crept into the open air for the first time that day, +his head still heavy from the wine that he had dolefully poured down +his throat the night before, in the hope of drowning his dismay at that +murderous tragedy with poor old Homo. As he did not want to meet any of +his acquaintances, he took the road that leads out through the gates, +visiting, among other places, the cemetery, and feeling quite in a mood +to seek a resting-place there himself. + +On his return, as he was passing the Sendling gate, he saw a traveling +carriage, loaded down with trunks, roll out and turn into the country +high-road. + +This struck him as being rather a peculiar proceeding at this time of +year and in this century of railways; and for that reason he looked +pretty closely at the equipage as it drove by. To his great amazement +he recognized in one of the ladies, who was just bending forward a +little, the stranger of the night before, the mysterious Madame de +St.-Aubain, while sitting opposite her on the back seat was no less a +person than that Greek Don Juan, Monsieur Stephanopulos. They were +talking earnestly with one another, and did not notice him. The lady +looked devilish pretty, her face being set off very coquettishly by a +black spangled baschlik, and her blue eyes-- + +"Why, what's the matter with you, Jansen?" he cried, breaking off in +alarm, for he saw his friend suddenly grow pale. "I thought I was +telling you pleasant news, in reporting that this fatal person, and the +murderer of poor Homo, were taking themselves out of your sight--" + +"Did you see a child with them?" cried the sculptor, almost beside +himself, and turning fiercely upon the innocent narrator. + +"A child? It is possible there was a child in the carriage. At least I +saw all sorts of wrappings and shawls lying on the other two seats. +But, for heaven's sake, my friend--" + +"Good! Thank you. I know enough. An hour ago, you say? And on the +Sendling post-road? Good! Excuse me, my good woman--I--I must be off. +But I must be prepared for all emergencies." + +He rushed up to the old wardrobe in the corner, tore open the door with +trembling hands, and drew out an old-fashioned pistol, covered with +dust and rust. + +At this moment he felt Felix's hand on his shoulder. + +"What is it?" he said, without turning round. + +"Of course I am going with you," said his friend, in a suppressed +voice. "As matters stand, I think I know pretty well what the trouble +is. What I don't yet know, you can explain to me on the road; but I can +never let you start alone on this sad hunt; and, as my blood is cooler +than yours, you must let me be the leader. They chose the highway +because the telegraph would have cut them off if they had gone by rail, +and they have not got much of a start yet. For this reason, I think +there can be no doubt but what we shall overtake them if we take +horses. Come! The drosky that Fridolin has just ordered will take us in +ten minutes to the stable where I hire my horses. Then we will ride by +my lodgings, and, if you insist upon it, I will put my revolver in my +pocket. That old horse-pistol wouldn't inspire Herr Stephanopulos with +any great respect. Do you agree to this, old boy?" + +"Let me follow in the carriage," pleaded the little woman. "I shall die +of anxiety unless I do, and who knows but what I can be of good service +to you. The poor child, and among strange people too, may be made sick +by the fright and the cold drive--" + +Felix quieted her as well as he could, and his firm, determined bearing +had so good an effect that Rosenbusch also promised to keep perfectly +quiet until their return, and not alarm either Julie or Angelica by +saying anything about the matter. Then Felix pushed his friend, who +submitted to his guidance like a child, out of the room, stopped a +moment on the stairs to write a word of excuse to Irene, who was +expecting him that evening, and then, getting into the drosky, he +ordered the driver to drive as fast as possible. Half an hour later the +two friends, mounted on fast horses, were spurring along the highroad +that runs from the Sendling gate across the broad Isar plain into the +mountains beyond. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + +The mist of evening hung over the still country. The heavy snow-clouds, +piled into huge heaps by the winds, drifted slowly across the dreary +sky, now and then letting fall a stray flake. To the right and left of +the road, whose deep ruts were filled with a half-frozen slush, the +trees stretched up to heaven their black and dripping branches, on +which even the crows refused to alight. + +In this dismal wintry desert, where, far and wide, no human being could +be seen, where no dog barked at the horses, the words seemed to freeze +on the lips of the two horsemen. Jansen had informed Felix only of +those facts which were positively essential to a knowledge of the case; +of his determination to make an end of the affair, and his belief that +the abduction of the child was either to be used as a means of +extorting some concessions from him, or else that it was a mere trick +on the part of the mother to let him feel her power, and to present +herself to the world in the character of an abused wife, who sought by +this desperate deed to recover a right of which she had long been +deprived. + +Felix had but little to say in reply. + +"Perhaps it is better, after all, that the matter should be brought to +a crisis," he thought to himself. "Who knows how long it would have +dragged on if he had always been obliged to negotiate from a distance. +If he only keeps cool and puts forth all his energy, he will probably +effect more now, when it is likely that her conscience troubles her in +regard to the farce of yesterday, than he could otherwise have hoped +for." + +Whereupon he put spurs to his horse, and, in spite of the interest with +which his friend's fate inspired him, relapsed into his own thoughts. +He had been with Irene for a few hours that morning. The feeling that +he brought away with him from those happy hours, the certainty that +henceforth his way was clear before him, took complete possession of +him, and made him unsusceptible to all the dreariness of this strange +ride. In addition to this he was filled with joy at being able to help +his friend at such a moment, as well as at being a witness of the +favorable change which he believed was about to take place in Jansen's +lot. Absorbed in these thoughts, he caught himself whistling a merry +tune, and beating time to it with his riding-whip; but, seeing that +Jansen suddenly spurred on his horse and rode past him, he broke off, +urged his own animal to greater speed, and, after overtaking his friend +again, rode along at a sharp trot by the side of his brooding +companion. + +Upon reaching the next village--where, notwithstanding the early hour, +everybody seemed to have gone to bed--they drew up before the tavern, +and made inquiries concerning a traveling-carriage that they thought +must have passed by the place. The few peasants who were in the guests' +room, playing cards with the landlord, came out to the door, and gave +it as their opinion that, at this time of year, no other carriage than +the doctor's or the priest's one-horse chaise would show itself in +those parts. They stood shaking their heads, and looking after the +retiring horsemen, as they again dashed forward. + +"We shall overtake them in Grossheselohe, at the railway bridge," said +Felix. "They can't cross there with the carriage, and will wait for the +express train, so as to go on early to-morrow morning. They _must_ have +passed, unless Rosenbusch was dreaming. These people in the tavern are +so befogged with beer and schnapps, that it is very probable they +didn't hear the wheels." + +They reached the village of Grossheselohe as one of the church clocks +was striking six. A rather lively company was assembled in the village +ale-house. The waiter-girl, who stepped to the door upon hearing the +approaching sound of horses' hoofs, knew nothing of any carriage +bringing strangers from the city. But a drunken hostler, who came +staggering out of one of the stalls, muttered some unintelligible words +and pointed to the road leading into the wood, though he could not be +induced to give any more distinct information. + +"Forward!" cried Felix. "We have no other choice, and I know the road +through the wood. Undoubtedly, Stephanopulos is also very well +acquainted with the country about here. This region was the classic +site of the May festivals that the artists used to give. Take my word +for it, we shall find our fugitives in the next village." + +He urged on his horse, but the heavy darkness now forced them to +moderate their speed. Riding at a walk, they plunged into the blackness +of the little wood which fringes the high bank of the Isar, and which, +in summertime, is the goal of so many weary city-folk. Now, it was so +gloomy that even Felix felt a cold shudder pass through his very bones. +Down in the deep ravines the water roared, and the wind sighed +mournfully through the bare tree-tops. Jansen's animal shied and +reared, but his rider sat in the saddle like the stone Commendatore; he +had hardly spoken a word for an hour. + +Suddenly Felix reined in his horse. "Do you see there?" said he, in a +suppressed voice. "I'll wager we have them. It's high time. My horse +has gone lame in its right fore-foot." + +Across a cleared patch in the wood they saw the village which the +artists had used as a rallying-point in the picnics of which Felix +had spoken. A house, with a rather high roof, stood out like a +silhouette against the gray sky, showing, in its second story, a +row of brightly-lighted windows. + +"Unless they happen to be celebrating a wedding here, other guests must +be in those rooms," said Felix. "Let's ride nearer, and cut across this +field; although there's not much fear that they could escape us now, +even if we should besiege their hiding-place from the open road." + +The horses, giving a low neigh--for they scented a crib of +oats--stamped through the slippery mud, and drew up before the fence +that separated the inn court-yard from the street. + +"We are right," whispered Felix, who stood up in his stirrups in +order to look over the fence. "The carriage is standing there in the +yard--two people are busy unloading the trunks--the fellow holding the +lantern is probably the coachman. Now for it, in God's name!" + +He swung himself from his horse, and stepped up to his friend to help +him out of the saddle. "Come," he said, patting the streaming horse on +the neck. "Whatever you are going to do, do it quickly. You will +probably find the whole company together, up-stairs; and, while you are +doing what is right up there, I will see to our horses and follow in +five minutes. Or do you want me to go up with you at once?" + +A deep sigh, the first sign of life that the silent man had yet given, +was the only answer. He seemed to have considerable difficulty in +getting out of the stirrups, as if his limbs were frozen fast to the +saddle. Then he stood for a few moments in a deep reverie, and seemed +to be struggling to get the better of a strong aversion, before he +could bring himself to enter the house. Felix accompanied him as far as +the door. + +"Remember to keep down that Berserker blood of yours!" he whispered to +him. + +Jansen nodded, and pressed his hand as if to ratify the vow. Then he +stood still again, raised his hat to wipe his forehead, and then strode +quickly across the threshold. + +Felix gazed after him with a feeling of painful sympathy. He would much +rather have undertaken this difficult mission in his friend's stead. +But he knew him too well to dare even to propose such a thing. + +So he led the two horses by the bridles, pushed open the gate, and +entered the court. + +The hostlers, who were busied about the traveling-carriage, rose up and +stared in amazement when they heard the sound of horses' hoofs, and saw +this young stranger coolly approaching them. + +"Good-evening!" he said. "I suppose you still have room in your stable +and a few dry blankets. These beasts are as wet as if they had just +been drawn out of the water." + +No answer. The coachman turned the lantern full in the face of the +new-comer, and shrugged his shoulders. + +"You'll be no losers for taking good care of my animals," continued +Felix. "In the mean time, I think I can find the stable-door for +myself." + +Without further parley he took the lantern from the coachman's +hand--who, in his confusion, was at a loss how to bear himself toward +this distinguished-looking gentleman--and proceeded to light his horses +to the manger. + +At this moment he heard a voice calling across the court, urging the +people who were unpacking the carriage to make haste. The owner of this +voice stepped out of the back-door; and, seeing the people standing +there idle, he marched quickly up to the spot with the intention of +giving them a sound rating. Before he could utter a word, however, he +started back in confusion--for Felix had also stood still, and raised +his lantern so that his figure could be distinctly seen. + +Stephanopulos, bare-headed and wrapped in a shawl, stood before him, +presenting an appearance that was anything but imposing. However, +observing the sarcastic mien of the young baron, he soon succeeded in +recovering--outwardly, at least--his usual presence of mind. + +"You here!" he cried. "What an unexpected meeting! Really, if I hadn't +seen it with my own eyes--" + +"_Bon soir, mon cher!_ Can I get quarters here, too?" interrupted +Felix. "Yes, you are right; it is I in person. And, for that matter, +though you are surprised to see me here in weather like this, which can +hardly be said to offer any great inducements for making country +excursions, it is really no more surprising than that I should find +_you_. We Northerners are accustomed to winter campaigns. But for one +who grew up at the foot of the Parthenon--" + +"Are you--alone, or--is some one else--" stammered the unfortunate man. + +"Only a good friend of mine, who chanced to have business here, and who +will also be rejoiced to see you. Really now, without compliments, we +hardly had a right to expect this agreeable meeting so near the city. +Where are you going to, sir?" he suddenly raised his voice. "Back into +the house? I must earnestly request you to favor me with your company +for a short time outside here. Your sense of delicacy ought to teach +you that the business which occupies my friend within-doors there will +bear no witnesses but those most nearly concerned, and however much you +appear to consider yourself as one of the family--" + +"Let me alone!" cried the youth, in whose dark eyes an evil light began +to gleam. "Why do you stand in my way? What right have you to concern +yourself with my affairs?" + +"My dear sir," said Felix, dropping the horses' bridles and stepping +close up to Stephanopulos, "before all things, don't scream so loud. In +your own interest, I advise you not to be too grandiloquent about this +affair. The person who is most directly concerned in it might resent +any remonstrance on your part less politely than I do. If you care at +all to get out of this ridiculous scrape in as respectable a manner as +possible--" + +"Take care!" cried the other. "You insult me! You shall give me +satisfaction for thinking me capable of such a piece of infamy! What! +desert an unfortunate woman, who has trusted herself to my protection, +in the presence of a man who has always abused her, and has sworn to +kill her if she ever comes into his sight again! Let me alone, I tell +you! I will--I must go back to the house! I must stand by her--I +must--" + +"It is very magnanimous of you to want to," interrupted Felix, coldly, +as he seized the other's arm with an iron grip. "But, in the mean +while, I will take care that you don't. I would propose to you to take +a walk in the neighboring wood, in order to cool off your hot blood a +little, until the husband has settled matters with his wife. If you +should interfere with him, I'm very much afraid he would shoot you +without taking any more time for reflection than you did yesterday when +you put an end to the poor dog. But I am sorry for you, my good fellow. +And for that reason, and also to preserve you for art and for further +adventures--" + +While saying these words he had been forcing Stephanopulos toward the +side where the stable was. There was a door standing open, apparently +leading up-stairs to the hay-loft. + +"In here!" he said, imperiously, suddenly letting go of the youth's arm +and sending him stumbling over the threshold. + +The Greek curse that rose to his lips was stifled by the furious +passion which blazed up in him. + +"Help! help!" he shrieked, beside himself with maddening rage. + +But Felix shut the door upon him, quickly turned the key in the lock, +and went back to the horses. The prisoner could be heard raging on the +other side of the door; a moment afterward his face appeared at the +little barred window. A blow of his fist shivered the pane. + +"If you don't open on the instant, you scoundrel--you blackguard--" + +"I repeat my good advice," said Felix, stepping up close to the window. +"Behave yourself quietly and yield to force, unless you want to make +your position worse than it is already. What I have just done is for +your own good, and your imprisonment will hardly last longer than half +an hour. Afterward, of course, I will afford you all so-called +satisfaction, with pleasure--as soon my time will allow me." + +He lifted his hat a little, stuck the key in his pocket, and resumed +his hold of the horses' bridles. + +The coachman and the stable-boys, who had looked on at this singular +scene in open-mouthed surprise, were so taken aback by his manner, +that, without attempting to make any effort in behalf of the prisoner, +they officiously hastened to lend assistance in leading the horses into +the barn. Felix gave a few directions about how they were to be +treated, and threw a thaler to each of the men. Then he took the +lantern in his hand again, gave orders that no one should follow him, +and strode across the yard to join his friend. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + +While this violent and yet almost ridiculous scene was enacted in the +court, Jansen had been mounting the dark stairs with a heavy foot and a +heavier breath. No sound of a human being was heard in the house; only +the roaring and crackling of the open fire in the kitchen below. Half +way up the stairs he stood still and listened; it seemed to him as if +he heard the voice of his child. But it was only the ringing in his +ears, as the blood seemed to surge and boil in his veins. + +"She will be asleep by this time," he said to himself. "So much the +better! She won't hear then what I have to say to her mother." + +He trembled all over. And yet he had no fear of this meeting, that was +to be the last. He was afraid of himself, of the dark, violent spirit +that made him clinch his fists and gnash his teeth. "Be quiet!" he said +to himself, "be quiet! She is not worth such fury!" + +He hastened up the last few steps and found himself in a long, dark +corridor. At one end a thin ray of light made its way through a +keyhole, and a broader gleam shone through the crack between the door +and the bent and warping threshold. + +"It must be there!" he said. He took off his hat, and passed his +hand through his wet hair. "Let us make an end of it!" said he, +unconsciously repeating over and over again the words "an end!--an +end--an end!" + +Then he stood before the door and listened. A voice which he did not +recognize was speaking; he stooped down and peeped in through the +keyhole. His eye lighted directly upon the face of an elderly woman who +was talking earnestly, but perfectly quietly. He recognized the old +singer, his wife's mother, whom he had always disliked even at the time +of his maddest infatuation. She sat in a corner of the sofa, and drank +now and then, in the short pauses she made, from a little silver cup +that stood by the side of a traveling-flask. At the same time she broke +up a biscuit and put the pieces in her mouth with an affected movement +of the hand, all the while displaying her false teeth to advantage. +Near her, sunk back in an arm-chair, lay her daughter; she was dressed +entirely in black, which became her white skin and deep blue eyes +charmingly. She was playing with a pair of scissors, making them flash +in the candle-light, and looked as wearied and indifferent to all about +her, as though she had just come home from the theatre where she been +acting in some tiresome piece with only tolerable success. + +Suddenly she sprang up with a loud shriek. The door had opened +noiselessly; and, instead of the young companion whom she had expected +to see enter, the very man stood before her, from whom she had fled to +this obscure hiding-place. + +The words died on her lips; even the old actress, who was not +ordinarily easily disconcerted, sat as if she were petrified; and only +her fingers, still convulsively crumbling up the biscuits, seemed to be +alive. + +"Leave the room; I have something to say to my wife!" Jansen said to +her in a low voice and without violence. "Do you hear what I say? Go +away this instant! but through this door, by which I entered." + +He wanted to prevent her from taking the child with her, for he took it +for granted that it had been put to bed in the adjoining room. + +The women exchanged a quick look. These few moments sufficed to restore +the younger one to self-possession. + +"You must not leave me," she said. "In whatever I am to hear--since I +am conscious of my innocence--I need shun no witnesses, least of all my +own mother." + +And as she spoke she sank back again into the chair, and passed her +hand across her eyes, as though overcome by painful memories. The old +woman on the sofa did not move. They could only hear how she murmured +softly to herself: "Good God! Good God! What a scene! What a +catastrophe!" + +"I repeat my demand!" the sculptor said with emphasis. "Will you wait +for me to take your arm and lead you out?" + +"Very good; I will go; I will not let matters be brought to the worst," +cried the mother, rising with a pathetic gesture. Then she bent down +over Lucie and whispered something in her ear. "No, no," hastily +answered the latter, "not a word to him. That would only make the +matter worse. Go, if it must be so. I am not afraid!" + +She spoke the last words aloud and facing toward Jansen, whom she +looked straight in the eyes without a trace of terror. Any stranger +would have been deceived by this air of conscious innocence. + +The old singer slammed the door behind her. They heard her, as she +passed down the corridor. But it did not escape Jansen's ears that she +crept back and remained standing outside the door to listen. + +"Let her stay, for what I care!" he said to himself, "as long as I +needn't see her face." Then came again the feverish: "We must make an +end--an end--an end!" He took his stand before the stove, in which the +remains of a fire still glowed. With folded arms he stood gazing down +upon the woman who had been the curse of his life. In the midst of his +terrible anguish it flashed across him that not a feature of her face +gave evidence of the seven years that had passed since they had been +separated. She even appeared younger, more girlish and more +unsophisticated than when he had first known her. Nothing could be read +on those soft lips or on that clear forehead but a sort of curiosity, +an innocent wonder as to what was coming. Her soft, quiet hand had +taken up the scissors again, and was playfully opening and shutting +them. + +An almost unbearable thought, a crushing sense of shame suddenly rose +within him, as he realized that this mask had once deceived him; had +excited him to mad passion, and had flattered him into reposing in it +an undying faith--this smooth lie, this cold smile, that did not desert +her even now, when he whom she had so bitterly injured had to put forth +all his strength in order to pass through this hour manfully. + +"I am here," said he at length, "to--to make an end of this. I hope you +will not make it more difficult for me than is necessary. I will not +ask you the reasons that have led you to act against our agreement, and +to cross my path again. You have a fondness for masquerading, and I +must let you indulge it as much as you like; all the more as I, for my +part, give you up utterly. I merely wish to warn you that if you ever +again feel a desire to approach me in any kind of disguise, take care +not to lose the mask. I could not bear to see your face again, and my +hot blood might play me false." + +She bent her eyes upon him with a perfectly unembarrassed look, as if +asking whether he was really serious when he said these words--whether +he really could not bear the sight of this gentle face. + +"Have no fear," she answered, softly, in an almost bashful tone. "I am +not coming again. I have seen all that I wanted to see. It was +certainly a pardonable curiosity that made me want to see what kind of +a face one must have to find favor in your eyes; and if I--" + +"Silence!" he interrupted, imperiously. "You shall hear me to the +end--to the very end. If, as I hope, you are not unmindful of your own +interests, and will listen to reason, our last interview will end +peacefully, and I will give you my thanks for having brought it about. +I will then take my child away with me, and promise you that I will try +hard to think of you without anger." + +"The child?" + +"The child that you have just stolen, that you wished to keep with you +in pawn, that you might carry out Heaven knows what miserable scheme." + +"You are very much mistaken," she interposed, and a slight blush +mounted to her cheeks. "The child is not here." + +"Don't attempt to deceive me!" he cried, with sudden fury. "I know you +have kidnapped the child--it is asleep in the next room--you fled to +this place to conceal your capture from me; to-morrow, early, you +intended to continue the flight." + +"You are raving again!" she said calmly, and laid the scissors down on +the table. "Look yourself, and see whether the child is here with me. +There stands the lamp; search the house, if you do not believe me." + +He stretched out his hand mechanically, took the light, and opened the +door of the adjoining chamber. The beds that stood there were empty. + +With a threatening look he turned upon her. + +"Shall I search the house room by room?" he asked, his voice trembling +with anger. + +"It would be useless trouble. I swear to you, I did not bring the child +with me." + +"Trickster!" he cried, setting the light down on the table with such +force that the flame was almost extinguished. "Only this once the +truth--only this once! Where is the child? What have you done with her? +In whose hands--" + +"In the best of hands," she interrupted, "under the very safest +protection, so help me God! I--it is true--I had an irresistible +longing to see my poor child once more, whom you have made motherless +and to whom you wish to give a mother who can have no heart for the +orphan. If it is a crime for the real mother not to wish to see her +child given to the false one, then I have committed such a crime. I +wanted to steal it for myself, to be a thief of that which is my own, +purchased with pain and lost with pain; but it happened differently--I +was not to have it, in punishment for not having defended my rights +more boldly. Oh! and this cruel, pitiless man, who has robbed me of +everything, even of this last short, desperate consolation--" + +Her voice appeared to fail her. She covered her face with her white +hands, and was silent. But the time when she might have deceived him +was past. + +"Where is the child?" he asked, after a short pause, stepping close up +to her. + +She did not remove her hands from before her eyes. + +"I sent it back to you. I saw that the innocent creature had been +brought up in hatred toward her mother, and that I could not hope to +win her young heart back to me again. What I felt--but enough! What do +you care for my sorrows? I pressed the child to my breast for the last +time, and then let her go from me forever. When you get home, you will +find her there. This is the truth. And if I had to die this moment I +could not say anything else." + +She drew herself up at these words; her eyes glistened with moisture, +her features assumed an expression of anxious emotion, and her gestures +were hasty and ungraceful. + +"Well?" she queried. "Are you not yet satisfied? Have I something still +that your hate begrudges me, that you would like to tear from me? Take +it--take all I have--take even my miserable life, that you have spared +me until now, for I see what you are aiming at when you say you want to +put an end to this. Yes, an end to my woes, to my disappointed hopes, +to my happiness and my honor--an end to this wretched creature, that +wanders through the world like a leaf torn from a tree, finding rest +nowhere--nowhere until it sinks into the mud and rots there." + +She threw herself on the sofa, and burst into a flood of tears. + +He knew these tears. He knew that she possessed the art of moving +herself in order to move others. But still he felt a deep pity for this +unhappy nature, which could not even in its truest grief weep truly. + +"Lucie," he said--it was the first time he had addressed her by her +name--"you are quite right, you are unhappy and I am partly to blame +for it. I ought to have been a wiser man, and never to have thought of +making you my wife. We are of different blood; you are in your element +when you are pretending to be something you are not. I--but why talk +about it? We know it all--we ought to have known it then; it would have +spared us much bitterness. And now, Lucie, you see I am not unjust; I +share the blame between us, just as I have borne my good half of the +misfortune. But shall it go on this way and make both of us wretched +all our lives? I have written all this to you. Why didn't you read my +letters better? We should now understand one another, and should be +able to conclude what still remains to be done in a more friendly +spirit." + +"Your letters?" she said, suddenly drawing herself up and drying her +tears. "I read them only too well. I know that in and between the lines +there was but one thought: 'I will be free!--free at any price!' I +knew, too, who it was who dictated this thought to you; and now, since +I have made the personal acquaintance of this incomparable woman--no, +without sarcasm, which would be but childish defiance for one in my +situation--I understand perfectly that you would be willing to do +anything in order that you might throw yourself into such chains. But +to suppose that I, with my share of our common misfortune, as you call +it, will voluntarily step back and look on while you find happiness +according to your heart's desire--oh! you are excellent egotists, you +men!--but you should not be so _naïve_ as to think it a crime if we, +too, sometimes think a little about ourselves!" + +His old aversion arose again as he listened to this well-calculated, +passionate speech. But he forced himself to be quiet. + +"I have never tried to conceal from you," said he, "that I am now more +desirous than ever before for an absolute separation, because I wish to +enter into a new marriage. If you thought it was for your interest to +hinder this, if you wished to prevent me from ever again becoming a +happy man, then this would be comprehensible on your part, although it +would betray but little pride. But you ought to know me better. You +ought to know that I am terribly in earnest when I say my submission to +the fate that binds us together is at an end. I can--I _shall_ never +consent to let the malicious defiance of a woman cheat myself and her +whom I love of our happiness in life. I am determined to do _anything_ +which can set me free. Do you hear it? To do _anything_. And for that +reason I say to you: name your price! I know very well that your desire +to feel that I am in your power, and the triumph of seeing me drag a +piece of the chain after me is dear to you. But even dearer things have +their price. Name yours; I will buy off your hate and your malice, +though to do it I had to work like a day-laborer from morning until +late into the night." + +"I don't imagine that will be necessary. Your sweetheart is rich, I +hear. But you are mistaken. I am not covetous. Give me the child, and I +will never have known the father." + +"Woman!" he cried, his whole being lashed into fury by the trick which +he immediately detected--"You are--" + +But he controlled himself. He sank down a chair near the sofa, and +said, in a tone as if he were communicating something of the greatest +indifference to her: + +"Very good. You remain untouched by words or prayers. But let me tell +you: I am as determined to set myself free as you can possibly be to +keep me forever in a state of wretched bondage. If you will consent to +a legal separation, you shall never have occasion to complain of me. I +will double what I have done for you heretofore; yes--I will guarantee +that you shall not lose this part enjoyment of my income even by any +second marriage you may be disposed to enter into. You smile and +pretend to be incredulous. Let us play an honest game. You are young +and beautiful; though I doubt whether you will ever find a man to whom +your heart will go forth. You may easily find a man who will seduce +your senses, and whose position will attract you, and then our account +would be at an end. If you resist this just compromise--" + +She looked at him again with all her childish innocence, with that +smiling curiosity as though they had to do with a scene in a farce. + +"Well--and then?" she asked. + +"Then I will take every means in my power to ruin your life as you have +ruined mine. I will pursue you with my hate, no matter whither you may +flee, and dog your steps, do what you will to hinder! I know how you +live, and that you have neglected no chance to console yourself for the +loss of a husband. I have cast you out of my heart so entirely that I +did not feel the least shade of sorrow when you threw yourself away +upon whomsoever pleased you. But that shall be otherwise now. I will +put a spy on your track, whose only duty shall be to watch you every +step and movement, and to furnish me what I have hitherto lacked: +_proofs_ that you are trampling my honor as well as my happiness under +foot. Then I will openly step before the world and tear the mask from +your smooth face. Then I will--" + +"You would do better to spare yourself the trouble," she interrupted, +coldly. "Since you are so good as to warn me, you will easily +understand that, even admitting I should feel any desire to be +indiscreet, I should take care to guard myself against spies. So you +would only throw away your money without gaining anything by it. For +such weak proof of my guilt toward you as a glove, that very likely the +doctor left lying in my chamber, and that an intelligent dog--_à +propos_! I am really sorry that I was the innocent cause of the loss of +your friend, though that keen judge of human nature did show as +unconquerable an aversion toward me as his master. Some other end would +undoubtedly have been preferred by you. At the same time, little as my +wretched life may be worth to you, and easier as it would be for you to +find a second wife than a second dog--" + +"Woman!" he shrieked, driven furious by her impudent irony in this +terrible hour. "Not another word, or--" + +"Or?" + +She looked at him defiantly, as she rose and folded her arms. + +"Or I will bring the matter to another end than you ever dreamed of, +and the carriage that you brought you here, you she-devil, laughing and +mocking at me with your pretty paramour, shall to-morrow--" + +He raised his fist as if he were about to let it fall like a hammer on +her head. She returned his gaze without moving an eyelash. + +"Murder me, if you have the heart to!" she said, coldly, with her lips +curled in scorn. "The comedy in which a dog has played such a splendid +_rôle_ would then end most fittingly as a tragedy, which would be +better, at all events, than a wretched reconciliation. As truly as I am +innocent of your madness and fury, so truly do I say that a more +undeserved disgrace was never heaped upon a helpless creature; that +happiness, honor, and future were never more ruthlessly--" + +The door was thrown open. Felix, who had pushed back the listening +woman, thinking that the time had come to prevent an act of violence, +burst into the room and suddenly stood before the speaker. But scarcely +had she cast a look upon him than, with a shrill scream that went +through the very marrow of the men, she sank back, her arms as if +paralyzed by a sudden cramp, her features distorted, and in a state +that bore such unmistakable signs of truth that no thought of its being +some new deception was possible. Before Jansen had had time to collect +himself, the mother rushed in from the corridor and threw herself down +before her insensible daughter, who lay on the sofa with staring, +wide-open eyes, a vacant smile upon her lips, and hands hanging rigidly +at her side with the fingers spread wide apart. + +"You have killed her!" cried the old woman, trying to lift the body, +which had half fallen to the ground, on to the cushions. "Help--save +her--bring water, vinegar--anything you have--Lucie--my poor +Lucie--don't you hear me? It is I! My God! My God! Must it come to +this!" + +"It is a fainting-fit, nothing more!" Jansen's voice now broke in. "She +has had such fits before, especially after great exertion on the stage. +And to-day's scene--" his speech suddenly failed him. He had turned as +he spoke toward Felix, who stood in the middle of the room, his eyes +fixed immovably upon the figure of the insensible woman. It was as if +the lightning-bolt that had struck her had grazed him too. Not a limb +did he move, not a muscle stirred in his face; every drop of blood +seemed to have left his veins. + +"Felix! For God's sake what ails you? What is it? do you hear me, +Felix?" cried Jansen, grasping his arm and pressing it tight. + +Felix made a vain attempt to master himself again. But he could +not withdraw his gaze from the woman, who lay there as if dead. +He merely nodded a few times, as if to give a sign of life, and +heaved a deep sigh. Then he said, bringing out each word separately: +"So--that--is--your wife!" + +"Felix!" cried Jansen, in a tone which betrayed a terrible suspicion. +"Felix--speak--no--say nothing--come out--we--we are in the way here--" + +"So that--is--his wife!" repeated the other, as if talking to himself. +Suddenly he shook himself with a gesture of horror, broke loose from +his friend, and rushed out of the room with such terrible haste +as to cut off all chance for Jansen to detain him. They heard him, +immediately afterward, plunge down the stairs and fling the door to +behind him. + +Jansen hurried to the window and threw it open. "Felix," he shouted +after him--"one word--just a single word!" + +No sound came up from below. Only the wet snow drove in through the +open window, upon the head and breast of this sore-burdened man. He did +not notice it. He leaned against the window-sill to support himself, +and stood for perhaps ten minutes deaf and blind to all that went on +around him. + +The old singer was trying, with continual moaning and laments, to bring +her insensible daughter back to life. She had produced a little flask +of some strong essence from her traveling-bag, and was bathing the +young woman's colorless cheeks and temples with it. Jansen had turned +his eyes upon the group, but he did so as if he took no notice of what +was being done for the lifeless figure. Not until she had made a slight +movement with her hand, that immediately dropped back again upon the +cushion, did he seem to recollect himself. He stepped away from the +window without closing it. + +"Let the cold air come in," he said, in a low voice. "It is the best +way to bring her to herself again. Put some snow on her forehead; she +will open her eyes in a few moments. Tell her, then, that I have left +the house, and--that I shall leave her in peace. Goodnight!" + +Her mother raised herself from her knees and sought to make some reply. +But when she saw his face she was silent, and merely nodded timidly and +servilely to all he said. She saw him go out of the room, and then +hastened again to the aid of her daughter, who was now breathing +heavily. She finally succeeded in raising her into a sitting position, +but the pale head fell back again on the arm of the sofa. Then she ran +to the window and brought a few handfuls of the snow that lay on the +sill outside. At length the insensible woman opened her eyes. + +Her first, half-vacant gaze wandered over the room. After a while she +became thoroughly aroused, and moved her lips. + +"Where is he?" she murmured. + +Just at that moment they heard the hoof-beats of a horse galloping off. + +"Do you hear?" whispered the mother. "He is just riding away. He won't +come again--he told me to wish you good-night, and he would leave you +alone. Oh! these men--Oh! these men! Poor, poor Lucie!" + +The pale woman appeared even now not quite to understand. Her features +were still distorted in fear. She drew her mother nearer, and +whispered: "And the other--was it really he, or was it--his ghost?" + +"What do you mean, child? Are you out of your head? But only keep +quiet--it's to be hoped we shall have a quiet night--oh! my God! What a +scene, what a catastrophe!" + +She seized the cup of wine, and drank it out. Lucie paid no attention +to her. + +A shudder passed over her. She closed her eyes anew. The convulsion +which had seized upon her now lapsed into a violent sobbing, which her +mother, who had seen her before in such a fit, allowed to take its +course without making any attempt to waste further words in +consolation. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + +We must return to the morning of this day, in order to take up the +threads out of which the dark web of these events was spun. + +Julie, after having twice sought in vain for her friend at his studio, +had found it impossible, in the anxious state of her heart, to stay +quietly at home. She went to Irene's, for she had found Angelica, who +had not closed her eyes all night, sunk in a deep sleep. She felt +herself greatly drawn toward the Fräulein, though she had seen her +yesterday for the first time; all the more as Irene, too, was as little +able as all the others to withstand the charm of Julie's character, and +had attached herself to her with a warmth that appeared doubly great in +contrast to her usual coy reserve. It had not been long, thanks to the +freedom of the masquerade, before they stood on so familiar a footing +as to call each other "Du;" and the startling incident that drove +Jansen away from the ball so early had broken down the last trace of +reserve in the friendship between them. They had remained together for +a few hours longer. Julie, to whom Jansen had disclosed in a single +word the mystery of the strange mask, had made no secret of the matter +to her friends, among whom Irene was now counted. + +She herself, while taking the occurrence greatly to heart, saw at once +how much nearer the final crisis it had brought her. But the thought +that she must leave him to fight out alone the battle that could not be +avoided, was torture to her. + +She wanted at least to be near him, to know every hour what he was +doing, and, if it should be necessary, to be ready to restrain him from +taking any violent steps. His withdrawing from her--although she knew +that he had only done it to spare her--gave her great pain, and she +felt now as if she knew for the first time how much she loved him. + +In this mood she presented herself before Irene, who received her most +tenderly. Felix, who had taken occasion to call as early as possible in +the morning, had just taken his leave again, and the eyes and cheeks of +the girl still glowed with the happiness of their reunion. The two +friends had so much to confide to one another that they did not notice +how the hours slipped by, and were very much surprised when the uncle, +who, as a rule, never appeared before dinner-time, entered the room. +Irene introduced him to Julie, and would not listen to such a thing as +her going home to dinner. + +The baron seconded her in her hospitable entreaties in his usual +chivalrous manner; though he seemed not to be in as good spirits as was +usual when he found himself in the presence of a beautiful lady. During +the meal, also, he was noticeably depressed and preoccupied, keeping +remarkably silent for him, sighing a great deal, and complaining of old +age, which must overtake even the youngest uncles at last. Then again +he would try to laugh, or tell one of his old _bonmots_; but he soon +relapsed anew into a droll kind of melancholy, in which he railed at +the uncertain lot of humanity and the mysteries of an irresponsible +Providence. + +When, after dinner, Irene was called out of the room by a chance caller +whom she hoped quickly to get rid of, and the baron was left alone with +Julie, he suddenly appeared to have gone fairly crazy. He sprang up, +thrust his hands through his thin hair, plucked at his beard, took a +cigar--which he immediately laid down again--and finally drew up his +chair close to the sofa, where Julie was seated. + +"Fräulein Julie," he said, with a deep sigh, "you will think it +strange, but I can't help myself; will you hear me for ten minutes on a +very serious matter, and then give me your advice and, if possible, +your support?" + +She looked at him in amazement, but nodded kindly. + +"A terribly bad story," he continued; "though, for that matter, a story +that is not without a parallel in this imperfect world of ours, and +one that ought not, by good rights, to break the heart of an old +lion-hunter. But the worst of it is, it so happens that I can turn to +no one for advice and aid, except to a young lady whose delightful +acquaintance I made but an hour ago. Now, my honored Fräulein, if I +only knew of some married woman, or some respectable elderly lady, in +whom I had confidence--truly, I would spare you and myself the +embarrassment of having to talk to you about the old sins of my youth. +But in all this circle--all bachelors and single women--you will +understand, my dear Fräulein--" + +"Speak out boldly, Herr Baron; I am thirty-one years old." + +"No, my dear Fräulein, the baptismal certificate has nothing to do with +this question; and, although I have the greatest respect for you--you +are still far removed from the canonical age of a person inspiring +respect. But I have learned, through my brother-in-arms Schnetz, how +universally you are honored in Bohemia--pardon the expression, I mean +in the so-called society of Paradise--and that it only needs a word +from you to straighten out much more complicated affairs than this of +mine. + +"Perhaps you do not yet know--that is to say, you have undoubtedly +known for a long time--for your talented friends do not generally keep +secrets from one another--in short, I have a daughter--'Have her while +she is mine,' as Polonius says--a daughter, of whose existence I had no +suspicion until recently. Upon the discovery of my fathership I knocked +at my heart, and waited to hear whether the so-called voice of Nature +within would awaken. _Pas le mains du monde._ You will find this +inhuman. But remember that I did not lead a worse life in this good +town than was the fashion at that time, and that this adventure came +half-way to meet me--I wish to throw no shadow either upon the girl or +her parents--_enfin_, they were very cordial with me, and I, in return, +possibly went too far. A few years afterward, I felt something like a +gentle gnawing in my left side, where one is supposed to carry his +conscience. As it did not subside, I wrote to this place in order to +inquire, as a friend of the family, after the health of its different +members. The letter was returned by the post, as the address could not +be found. + +"Now, looked at from a strictly moral point of view, I ought not to +have felt, even after this, that I had justified myself. But what would +you have? My contact with the king of the desert had somewhat hardened +my skin, and the before-mentioned gnawing ceased. The girl had never +been exactly what you would call beautiful, but was very attractive +because of her freshness, her free nature, her merry laughter from a +mouth of magnificent teeth. You know complexions of that kind have +something especially dangerous about them for our weaker sex. To be +brief, she had, in spite of all this, completely passed out of my +memory until I saw her again to-day in her daughter--pardon, in our +daughter, I meant to say." + +"You sought out the girl? And how did the poor child receive you?" + +"As badly as ever a child could receive its long-lost father. You can +imagine, dear Fräulein, that it was no easy mission for me to fulfill. +A man cuts such a wretched figure in the character of the repentant +father, who, at the very first meeting with his grown-up daughter, is +obliged to beg her pardon for having totally forgotten her. But there +are sour apples into which one would rather bite than let himself be +bitten by his conscience. I assumed a fatherly, venerable mien, and, +when I entered the room where the girl was, and recognized in her her +dead mother--as if the resemblance had been stolen from a mirror--I can +assure you that at last the voice of Nature asserted itself. But +scarcely had I introduced myself, with the necessary delicacy, +to the unsuspecting child as one who had certain sacred, though +long-neglected, rights to her childish affection, when the strange +creature springs up like a little fury, and flies into the adjoining +room. Now I ask you, my dear Fräulein, is a father who wishes to make +good his faults a monster from whom one ought to run away? I stood +there as if rooted to the spot; and, as soon as I recovered from my +surprise, I did my best to conciliate my daughter through the bolted +door. I spoke the kindest words to her, and promised her anything in +the world if she would only be sensible and let me talk to her; and, +truly, I must have succeeded in the end--the voice of Nature must +finally have awakened even in her young bosom--when suddenly the old +gentleman--my _quasi_ father-in-law--entered the room. Would you +believe it? this white-haired old man, instead of coming to my aid with +the wisdom of a grandfather, suddenly becomes as wild and unreasonable +as a youth, says the most incredible things to my very face, and while +I, out of respect for his gray hairs and lost in astonishment, am at a +loss what to answer, he takes me _sans façon_ by the arm and leads me +to the door, which he slams after me like a clap of thunder." + +The energy with which he had related all this seemed suddenly to have +taken away his breath. He sprang up, threw open the window, and took a +few deep draughts of the cold winter air; then, burying his hands deep +in the pockets of his short coat, he walked slowly back to where Julie +was sitting. + +"You must admit, my dear Fräulein," he said, "that this brutal +reception was well calculated to silence the voice of Nature once more. +This old--but no! He is right; if I had been in his place, and my +son-in-law had taken twenty years to make up his mind to stammer out +his _peccavi_, I should probably have been even less ceremonious, and +have simply kicked the fellow down-stairs, even if I had done nothing +worse to him. But still, as you can easily imagine, this encounter +rather shattered me." + +He threw himself into the chair again, sighed like a man in utter +desperation, and ran his hands through his hair. + +"And how can I help or advise you, Herr Baron?" asked Julie, after a +pause. "It seems to me there is nothing left for you to do but to write +to Herr Schoepf and to your daughter, and tell them by letter what they +would neither of them listen to in their first excitement." + +"Pardon, my dear Fräulein, that wouldn't do much good. These two mad +beings would not treat my letters any better than they did their +author. And yet, you will understand that I cannot rest content when my +father-in-law and my daughter have turned me out-of-doors. I must atone +for my old crime so far as such a thing is possible at this late day. +For me, in my years and circumstances, to suddenly long for paternal +joys, to receive this girl into my bachelor's quarters, and to +introduce her to society as a young baroness--I, who have already had +such a hard time with one grown-up daughter, by whom I am forced to let +myself be ordered about--would be the height of the ridiculous: to say +nothing of the fact that I doubt very much whether I should ever be +able to tame this red-maned lioness. But, on the other hand, Father +Schoepf, as he now calls himself, is no longer one of the youngest men +in the world; and, aside from that, by no means a Cr[oe]sus. If the +child stays with him, who knows but what she, too, will fall into bad +hands, like her poor mother? And in case she should remain a good +girl--you know, my dear Fräulein, that virtue as a sole dowry is not +particularly in demand nowadays. I want, therefore, to secure for my +daughter--whether she acknowledges me or not--a respectable marriage +portion; not merely a dowry--it must be known that Fräulein Schoepf +possesses in her own right so and so much property. Now, you see, my +dear Fräulein, only such a soft and winning voice as yours can succeed +in persuading Father Schoepf to consent to such an arrangement, which +is so greatly for the interest of the child. Now, if I should send +Schnetz to him, he would, if he had to deal with a man, fire up about +his ridiculous manly honor, and the end of the story would be that +Schnetz would likewise be shown the door. But you, if you will only +consent--and why shouldn't you consent?--may even succeed in the end in +inspiring this wild creature, my own flesh and blood, with some +human emotion; so that she will feel for her papa, who really is no +monster--but stop! the visit in the next room is over. Not a word of +this to Irene. Promise me this. May I depend on you?" + +He reached her both his hands across the table with such a true-hearted +and, at the same time, comically-crushed manner, that she did not +hesitate for a moment to close the bargain. In a second his mood seemed +to have gone through a complete transformation. He sprang up, bent over +her hand, which he eagerly kissed, and began to hum a tune and to light +a cigar, talking all the while about the masked ball of the night +before. His niece, when she entered again, laughingly asked what magic +charm her beautiful friend had been using in her absence, to dispel so +completely her dear uncle's melancholy mood. + +Julie smiled and answered that people ought not to laugh at the secrets +of magic, and the baron acted as though nothing at all had happened. +Then the two friends took leave of one another. Julie was anxious to +see Jansen again, whom she confidently hoped to find in his studio at +this hour. But on the stairs, to which the baron escorted her, she +whispered to him: + +"Why don't you want to let Irene into the secret? Unless I am very much +mistaken, she already knows the first half; you owe it to her to tell +her the other half, which truly does you honor." + +"Do you think so?" answered the baron. "Irene have a suspicion? Good +God, these young girls nowadays! One takes great credit to one's self +for the profound innocence and ignorance in which one has brought them +up, and they are wiser than we ourselves! Well, then, in Heaven's name! +one sour apple more; my teeth are yet on edge from the first one." + +He kissed Julie's hand once more and returned, sighing, to his niece. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + +Julie went slowly and thoughtfully down the stairs. The moment she was +alone, all in which she had just taken part sank into the background +before the one thought how it fared with her friend, how he had passed +the day, and what might have occurred between him and his wife, who +held his fate in her hands. She reproached herself for having let her +visit detain her so long. It is true he did not generally come until +evening. But what if he had sought her out earlier to-day?--what if he +had had some news to give her, or had needed her advice or consent? A +cold shudder passed over her at the dreadful thought! + +As if to make up for lost time, she hastened down the remaining steps. +But, upon reaching the landing of the first floor, she involuntarily +stopped. A very strange kind of music issued from one of the +neighboring doors. This was Nelida's _salon_; the waiter who had taken +her to Irene had told her so. The piano within, which only skillful +hands were generally allowed to touch, seemed to have fallen into the +hands of a maniac, who cared more for making noise than music, or who +was trying to test the instrument's power of resistance. + +But, rising above all this stormy _charivari_ of the keys, what noise +was that? Did her ears deceive her, or did she really hear a child's +voice that pierced to her very heart? Greatly excited, she advanced a +few steps toward the nearest door; now she heard it more plainly--the +sobbing of a child, that ceased for a moment only to begin again +immediately afterward. Was it possible? Did she know that voice? She +approached her ear to the door and discovered that the crying child +must be in one of the side rooms, to which there was no separate +entrance from the corridor. A few seconds more and the last doubt +vanished. Without taking time for reflection, without knocking, she +opened the door and stepped into the narrow hall between Nelida's +_salon_ and bedroom. + +The doors of both the adjoining rooms stood half open. In the _salon_ +sat Stephanopulos before the piano, improvising like a madman with the +most utter disregard of harmony, for he had been his own teacher on the +piano. He did not notice Julie, but went on abusing the keys. It was +not clear whether he was doing this in order to drown the noise of the +crying, or to divert the distressed child's thoughts. For through the +other door Julie now unmistakably heard the sobbing of little Frances, +and the voice of a woman trying to soothe and comfort her. But before +she had time to enter, an elderly lady, in hat and shawl, appeared on +the threshold. + +"Is it you, Nanette?" cried the old singer. "Is the carriage ready? Are +the trunks strapped on? It's high time. The child--Good God!--what is +this? You here?" + +Julie did not give her time to slam the door and bolt it. She hastily +pushed past the astonished woman, and entered the sleeping-chamber. + +She was received with a cry of fright. Before a table, on which were +piled all sorts of presents, flowers, cakes, and toys, as if for a +birthday celebration, stood the child, a big doll in one arm and a +paper of candy in the other, but weeping as bitterly all the while as +if these presents had been given her as a punishment. A woman, still +young but past her first youth, knelt on the carpet beside her, her +soft face bent down over the curly head of the child, apparently doing +all in her power to quiet the little creature. But now she sprang to +her feet and stared at Julie as if she had been a ghost. + +The countess lay stretched out on a sofa, in the back part of the room, +holding in her hand a newspaper, that fell into her lap when she +suddenly became aware of this unexpected caller, who was now standing +in the middle of the chamber. + +The next moment the child let everything it had in its arms fall on the +carpet, and, uttering a loud cry of joy, rushed into Julie's arms. + +"Have you come at last, my dear, beautiful mamma? What made you come so +late? I was so frightened here all alone! Are we really going now to +Auntie Angelica? Or will you take me to papa?" + +She clung fast to her protectress, who found it hard to quiet her. Her +little face was wet with tears, and she trembled in every limb. + +The countess raised herself upon her couch. + +"To what do I owe this honor, Fräulein?" she said, in a trembling +voice. + +Julie released herself from the child's arms, and looked the questioner +calmly in the face. + +"I ought to excuse myself, countess," she said, "for coming here +unannounced. However, the manner in which I am received relieves me +from this formal courtesy. In passing by outside I heard a child +crying, and recognized to my amazement and alarm Frances's voice. Her +foster-mother and her father, who evidently do not know where the child +is, will be alarmed about her. Pardon me if I take my leave with as +little formality as I came. Come, Frances, let us go. What have you +done with your hat and little cloak?" + +She had had difficulty in uttering the first words, she was so agitated +by her indignation. But the sound of her own voice gave her back her +self-control. She felt herself, all at once, to be perfectly at ease +and a match for all hostility. + +The piano-playing had suddenly ceased, and in the room itself the +stillness of death ensued, broken only by little Frances, who ran to +the lounge where her wraps were lying. + +The young woman took a step toward Julie. Her face, but slightly +flushed, appeared quite composed, and neither hate nor fear spoke from +her eyes. + +"I must introduce myself to you, Fräulein," she said, with her soft +voice. "I am Frau Lucie Jansen, the mother of this dear child. From +this you will understand--" + +"Is that true, mamma Julie?" the child interrupted. "Is the woman +really papa's wife, as she says? But papa hasn't any wife; he had one +once, but she is dead this long time, and I haven't any other mother +but my good foster-mother and my beautiful mamma Julie. I don't want to +have any other mother, and I don't want any presents from her--I only +want to go away! You must take me away. I--I--" + +She began to cry again, dropped her little cloak, and running back to +Julie threw her arms round her neck and sobbed bitterly. + +"Be quiet, Frances dear," Julie whispered to her. "We will go away to +your father. You can ask him; he will tell you all that I can't +tell you here. Come, be a good child--be my brave, sensible little +Frances--" + +"I must confess that this is the most extraordinary proceeding I ever +heard of," said the countess, in a loud but perfectly indifferent +voice. "Such language from such a mouth--_une femme entretenue qui ne +rougit pas de vouloir enlever un enfant à la mère légitime_--" + +"Countess," interrupted Julie, likewise raising her voice, "you said +that in French; that relieves me from the disagreeable necessity of +giving you the plain German answer that such an insult deserves--an +insult which you yourself know to be false. Besides, I haven't to do +with you, although you have permitted your rooms to be the theatre of +this intrigue. I merely have to reply to the mother that I have a right +to this child, a right that was voluntarily given me by its father, and +that I certainly regret having to make use of this right in opposition +to one who might have appealed to a holy right of Nature, had she not +of her own accord relinquished it. You wished to steal the child from +the father, and I, the betrothed of your former husband, fulfill only +my motherly duty when I resist such a robbery. Get ready, Frances; we +have nothing more to do here." + +The face of the young woman had grown deadly pale, her soft eyes +flashed fire, and she ground her little white teeth so that the sound +was plainly audible. + +"You allow yourself," she said, "to judge of circumstances you do not +understand, that have never been told you except in a one-sided and +distorted way. I have never renounced my natural right to call this +child mine; I have merely been obliged to yield for a time to force, +and I have always secretly hoped that time would come to my aid, that +the father of my darling would acknowledge the deep wrong he had done +me, and that the separation would tend to soften him. And who knows +that this would not have come about had you not stepped in between us? +Now, to be sure, that things have gone so far, there is no longer any +hope of settling the matter amicably. If I would have back what belongs +to me by sacred rights I was obliged to steal it as if it had been the +property of another; and how hard it will be for me to make it mine +again I have already discovered to my sorrow, for they have estranged +the heart of this poor, motherless creature from its most natural home. +Nevertheless, I will not cease to proclaim my right to the child and to +its father. Why do you stand in the way of a deeply-injured woman, a +robbed mother? Don't pretend you really care anything about becoming my +successor to the child, as you have become to the father. Skillfully as +you now play the _rôle_ of the tender mother, in your heart you will be +grateful to me if I relieve you of this burdensome duty; and he too, +the most fickle of men--believe me, if he only had a reasonable pretext +before the world, he would console himself in your possession, and +would rejoice that I had been so good-natured as to have removed from +his sight, without his express consent, the remembrance of an old +guilt!" + +She made a movement as if to draw the child to her arms, but it only +clung the tighter to Julie. + +"Take me away," it whispered to her, in a low voice. "Let us go +away--to dear papa--I don't want to go to that woman again." + +Julie stroked the little head, and pressed it to her side. She covered +the child's ears so thickly with its soft hair that not a word of all +this sad and bitter talk could reach its young soul. + +"Thank you," she said, "you have drawn a thorn from my conscience by +these disclosures. 'Perhaps, after all, he did her an injustice,' I +said to myself. 'Perhaps he was too violent, too hasty; and even if she +has been guilty of a great sin toward him, is it not punishment enough +that the mother has been deprived of her child for so many years? And +can I answer for it to this child for having forever destroyed all +hopes of a reconciliation between her parents?' This often gave me some +misgivings; but I candidly confess to you, from this day forth my +conscience will be easy on that score. No matter what you may say in +order to palliate what you have done, you cannot have the only real +justification, a true and genuine love for your child; if you did, how +could you entertain the thought that I would be glad to get rid of her? +Such a thing could only be said and believed by a woman who let five +years pass away without once trying to see, at any cost, the child she +had borne; and who never even waited in the streets that she might have +a chance to press it to her heart and kiss it once again. Such a +thought could only be entertained by the woman who believed that the +father of this child was capable of sacrificing it to his new-born +happiness, and would look on with indifference while it pined and +languished for want of a true mother's love. And you reproach me for +having plighted my troth to this man who never belonged to you, for you +never understood him, and never knew his worth, his nobility, and his +greatness. You may do your best to destroy his happiness and to +undermine his peace by your petty acts; in _this_ plot you have failed, +and, for the future, we shall take better care of ourselves and of the +child. You have given us warning!" + +She did not wait few an answer to these words, which she poured forth +in ever-increasing excitement. Before the women could collect their +thoughts and interfere she had seized little Frances's hat and cloak, +had put them on the child, and had borne her away in her arms. + +The moment she had gone, Stephanopulos entered the room with a nervous +laugh. + +"_Quelle femme!_" he said. "_Elle nous a joliment mis dedans._" + +"Angelos," commanded the countess, "go after her! She is perfectly +capable of seating herself in the carriage that stands before the door +and riding home in it. We need the carriage. There is no time to lose." + +"But, my dear countess, I don't understand. What is the use now?--and +you, madame--" + +He approached Lucie, who had sunk down on the lounge in speechless +stupor. + +"Don't be a child, Angelos!" said the countess, excitedly. "What is +there about it you don't understand? The game is lost! To be sure, if +it had only been played somewhat better--" + +"What would you have?" retorted the young woman, in an irritated tone. +"Didn't we do everything you advised us? If it hadn't been for this +horrible incident, everything would have turned out well. I should have +carried off the child, and by doing so have proved to the world that I +knew myself to be innocent, that I would not quietly submit to +everything they chose to put upon me, and that I had the courage to +defend myself against the incredible insults--" + +"Calm yourself, my good friend!" said Nelida, decisively. "Why should +we go on with a comedy that deludes no one? Enough, _le coup a manqué!_ +We must take care that the recoil does not strike you. The journey +which you intended to take with the child you must take alone. Or, +don't you think that your husband will do all in his power to make you +suffer for the mere attempt, if he hears--" + +"He will rage like a tiger!" cried Stephanopulos. "I once saw a little +specimen of his rage when a hostler whipped a cart-horse until the +animal fell to the ground. He sprang upon the man and would have torn +him in pieces if we had not interfered. The countess is right--you must +fly; of course I will accompany you, until you are in safety." + +The old singer, who had kept herself in the background during the whole +scene, now stepped forward and zealously joined in urging flight. Lucie +let her have her way without moving a finger. + +In ten minutes all was ready; the carriage rolled away from the house, +and Nelida dragged herself to the window and stood gazing after them. + +The young Greek leaned out of the carriage, and nodded a last farewell. + +"_Bon voyage!_" said the solitary woman, carelessly returning the +salutation. "So this episode is played out, too! Poor creature--totally +without _élan_ in good or bad. And yet I pity her. To have been the +wife of this man, and now to have sunk so low as to have to be glad +when an insignificant young-- And I?--what is the end of it all? To +grow old and ugly--always older and uglier--the last spark dies out, +and finally the heart is buried beneath the ashes of its own passions. +A hell on earth! I would give the rest of my life to be, just for a +single year, as beautiful as this Julie--to be so loved, and by _this +man!_" + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + +Holding the delicate little figure clasped close to her breast, Julie +had hurriedly carried the child down the stairs. She felt as if she +were in an intoxication of indignation, contempt, defiance, and +triumph; her lips, which touched the child's locks, trembled, and her +heart beat so that she could hardly draw her breath. It was not until +she had reached the lower hall, and saw the eyes of the hotel people +fixed upon her, that she recovered her composure again, and letting +little Frances slide down on her feet she fastened on her hat and cloak +for her. The child had not spoken a word thus far. But now, when she +saw the traveling carriage standing packed and ready before the door, +she clung tight to Julie again, begging in a low voice that they should +hurry away. She seemed to fear that they would stop her even now, and +drive off with her in the carriage. Julie quieted her, ordered a drosky +to be called, and told the driver to drive home. + +They sat nestled close up to one another, and were silent. Once only +the child turned to her protectress and asked: + +"Will she travel off without me now?" + +"Don't think any more about it," Julie answered, kissing her on the +forehead. "You are with me now. Are you happy?" + +The child nodded and stroked Julie's hand. But one could see from her +eyes that her thoughts were still busy with what had passed. + +When they reached home Julie found a note, which Fridolin had brought, +containing a few lines from Jansen, written in pencil. He hoped he +should be able to see her before the day was over, and she mustn't feel +any anxiety about him. This made her very happy. She decided to let him +find his child with her, particularly as the weather was raw and it did +not seem advisable to put Frances, who was feverish from weeping, into +a damp drosky again. So she sent old Erich to the foster-mother, with a +note in which she asked permission to keep the little one with her +overnight. She wanted to do this, she said, in order to surprise the +father; and having dispatched the letter she enjoyed herself playing +with the child, whose affections she now felt as if she had thoroughly +won and deserved. She made a cup of chocolate, and looked on while it +eagerly drank it; for it had not touched the sweetmeats Lucie had given +it. + +She acknowledged such an evident interposition of friendly powers in +all that she had just passed through, and the good gods seemed to have +taken the part of her love and hopes so earnestly, that she had no +doubt but what the remaining difficulties would be also satisfactorily +solved. + +In this opinion she was shaken, though only for a moment, by the news +Frances's foster-mother brought. That good woman was still full of the +fright that had been caused by the supposed abduction of the child, and +had no sooner received Erich's message than she set out to convince +herself with her own eyes that at all events the worst had not +happened, and that little Frances was in safety. The excitement of the +last few hours, the self-reproach she felt, and the thought of the +consequences that might follow, had so worked upon her that, at the +sight of the child smiling a welcome to her, she burst into tears and +could with difficulty be quieted. As for the permission, she said she +no longer had any right whatsoever to give such a thing, now that it +appeared that the child had not been safe from such an invasion under +her own roof; and if the father should withdraw all his confidence from +her she felt she would have no right to complain. + +"Let me have her just for this night," Julie begged. "I have a +presentiment that Jansen must return to-night, and then he will be so +rejoiced to find us together. After to-morrow, you shall once more +enjoy your mother's privileges without stint, until I take your place +with still better rights." + +But her presentiment deceived her. + +The child was put to bed early, and, with its head resting on Julie's +pillow, had long since dropped off to sleep in the midst of a loving +chat with its "beautiful mamma." Julie sat and listened to the storm, +starting to her feet every time she heard a man's step approach the +house. But the hours slipped by, and she remained alone. At last, about +midnight, she gave up all hope. She dismissed her old servant, +noiselessly undressed herself, and lay down on the bed by the side of +the sleeping child. It was long before she closed her eyes. + +When she awoke next morning her little bedfellow soon roused herself, +and was very much surprised not to find herself in her accustomed +place. The preceding day, with its adventures, only floated before her +like a confused dream. She had a strange dislike to asking Julie how it +had all come about, but allowed Julie to dress her, amid much petting +and caressing, and to carry her home. Julie herself was depressed, and +felt her confidence in the helping powers of fate much shaken. She +resigned little Frances to the foster-mother, and then immediately +started for the studio. + +The weather had cleared, and a warm though pale winter sun shone down +upon the streets, covered with a thin layer of snow. The long walk did +Julie good. When she finally reached the house, her cheeks were +glowing, her blood was quickened, and her spirits had recovered their +former confidence. She was, therefore, all the more alarmed to find +four well-known figures in the courtyard, all of whom greeted her with +a look of profound distress--Angelica, Rosenbusch, Kohle, and Fridolin, +the janitor. They were standing in a group, and appeared to be eagerly +discussing something, when Julie's sudden arrival frightened them +apart. + +"What has happened?" she cried to them. "Has he returned? For God's +sake, what has happened?" + +"Dear Fräulein," said Rosenbusch, who was the first to stammer out an +answer, "we know as little as you what has happened; but he has +returned, and last night too, and not very late either; he gave back +his horse to the stable-keeper himself; or, at all events, when I +inquired about it early this morning, the two animals stood in the +stalls, but the hostlers knew nothing of their riders. 'Well,' thought +I to myself, 'that affair passed off better than we had a right to +expect,' and hurried over here. But when I asked Fridolin, he knew +nothing except that the 'professor' must have returned, for he had not +been able to open the door of the studio; the key was inside, and he +had received no answer to his knocking. In the mean time, as the sun +rose quite high, I thought he certainly must have slept enough, and I +also knocked and gave him good-morning through the keyhole. No answer. +The marble-cutters, who wanted to get into the saints' studio, found +the door locked likewise; and after waiting for a time, they went away +again. As time went on I began to think there was something very odd +about it all. So I climbed up to the window on the garden side, and +looked into the ateliers--first into his own. Everything there was in +the best of order, only there was no trace of him. So I climbed down +again, and then up to the other window--well, in there things looked +oddly enough. Just picture it, Fräulein: all his worthy saints, with +the exception of the models which he had made himself, were smashed +into fragments; and what was worse than all, in the midst of all this +wreck I saw him--our poor friend--stretched out on the floor as if he +were lying on the softest mattress; don't be frightened, Fräulein, he +is alive and conscious, but so tired apparently that he cannot even +rouse himself enough to go into the other studio and lie down on the +sofa. For, upon my beating a most devilish reveille upon the closed +window and shouting out his name, he raised himself half up, made a +motion with his hand for me to leave him in peace, and then sank back +again on the heap of fragments, with nothing under his head but a +corner of his cloak." + +He broke off, as he saw Julie turn away hastily and hasten toward the +building. Angelica was about to follow, but she made a sign that she +wanted to go alone, and hurriedly entered the house. + +Inside, she listened for a moment at the door of the "saint-factory;" +as all was quiet she knocked with a trembling hand and called Jansen's +name. Immediately after the door opened, and he stood before her. + +He was wrapped in his cloak, his hair hung disheveled about his +temples, all the blood seemed to have left his face, and his eyes had +neither a wild nor a sad look; but their tired, wandering gaze pained +Julie more than the most passionate excitement. + +"It is you!" he said. "You are a little too early for me. I, as you +see--won't you come in? To be sure, it doesn't look very inviting +here--I have been clearing out a little, and because I did it in the +dark--" + +She had to exert all her strength in order to cast an apparently +composed look around the room. + +"What harm have these innocent figures done you?" she asked, closing +the door behind her. + +"Innocent?--ha, ha! They only pretend to be so. In reality they all +have the devil in them, in spite of their saints' halo. Not a single +one of them is really innocent. I ought to know that best, for I made +them. And I tell you, the reflection from the snow outside made it +bright enough for me to see the lie grinning from these stupid faces. +So I made an end of it and smashed them all to bits--another lie wiped +out of the world. I have been doing things by halves long enough; the +other half always avenges itself. Now I feel better again, especially +since I have seen you." + +He pressed her hand: his voice sounded hoarse and strained; his eyes +were bloodshot. She had to forcibly keep down her tears, as she stepped +over the wreck upon the floor. + +"I am glad that it all lies behind you now," she said. "I can feel with +you how it must pain you to make something in which your whole heart is +not interested. But come away from this destruction. We will make a +fire in the studio, and talk. Did you know that little Frances spent +the night with me? The darling child! It was hard for me to give her +back to the foster-mother. But then it won't be for long now." + +He made no answer, but submissively allowed himself to be led away +without raising his eyes from the ground. While she kindled the fire, +he sat on the sofa, his arms hanging down between his knees, and began +to hum a tune as if in accompaniment to the music made by the crackling +flames in the iron stove. He did not appear to notice that she had +again stepped to his side. It was not until she bent over, threw her +arms round his neck, and, with the tears streaming down her face, +kissed him again and again, that he became conscious of what was +passing; and, even then, he seemed to see everything as if through a +mist. + +"What are you crying for?" he asked, in surprise. "Am I not quite +cheerful and sensible? You, surely, are not afraid of me? Don't be +afraid, the worst is over. Last night, it is true, if any one had said +to me, 'Stamp with your foot on the ground and the whole world will +fall in ruins and bury you and all that is good and beautiful,' I +believe I would have done it. Well, those poor innocents there had to +bear the brunt of my fury; and now a little child might lead me by a +string." + +"Won't you tell me how it all happened?" + +"What would be the use? It is vile. It's bad enough that two persons +know of it besides myself. Besides, it can't be changed. Don't you know +that you must never draw the iron out of the wound unless you want the +man to bleed to death? What time is it? Is it evening or morning? I +believe I am hungry. The animal in man is immortal, and outlives all +the nobler impulses. Pardon me for talking so. The words fall from my +lips; I cannot hold them back." + +"I will go up to Angelica's room--she always has a little supply on +hand--or shall we go to my house?" + +"No matter about it. I feel a disgust for all food. Hunger and disgust +at the same time--a fine outlook for life! But it's no wonder. When one +has nourished himself with something that appears perfectly innocent, +and suddenly discovers that it has been gathered from the vilest +refuse--" + +She seated herself beside him on the sofa, and laid her arm on his +shoulder; but he seemed to be quite unmoved by her touch, though +usually her slightest caress would fairly intoxicate him. + +"You must tell me all!" she whispered, stroking his rigid face, while +the tears rolled down her cheeks. "Are we not one? Is not your life +mine, just as everything I am and have belongs to you? And yet you +would keep something from me, because it might give me pain! I demand +my full half of your pain, or I shall begin to doubt whether I was ever +anything more to you than a living picture in which your eyes found +pleasure." + +He slowly shook his head. "I must make an end of that, too," he said, +as if to himself. "I must have done with this half-way work. But that +pains me more; and it is not the beautiful image that must be dashed to +pieces, but he who moulded it out of clay. Ha, ha! As if it did not +follow that everything which comes from the earth must go back to the +earth again. A fine thought that, a truly charming prospect--ha, ha!" + +"Speak sensibly, dearest! Now I can't understand a word." + +"Well, then, to speak sensibly, I must go away--the sooner the better. +Do you understand what that means? I, myself--to tell the truth--I +don't quite understand it yet; but that comes from my weariness. As +soon as I have had a good sleep--" + +"Go away! And why go away? And where to?" + +"Why? You ask strange questions, dearest. As if we ever knew why we +live, why the sun shines on us today and to-morrow the storm rages. And +where it whirls us to--what matters it? Do you believe that any spot +will be dearer to me than another where I have to do without you?" + +"Without me? You are raving! O my God!--the--but I am crazy to let +myself be frightened by anything so--so impossible!" + +"Yes, yes!" he said, in a hollow voice, and with a bitter smile; +"impossible. So many things seem to us, until those two great +magicians, chance and crime, complete the trick, and make the +impossible only too actual. I candidly confess to you that, when my +sound reason leaves me for a moment, I also hear a voice within me +crying: 'It is impossible!' And yet it must be so--and we can do +nothing but kick our bleeding heels against the thorns of fate. What is +the matter with you all at once? You have let your arm fall from my +shoulder. Are you angry with me, poor woman, because I am a beaten man? +Say yourself what is there left for us to do but to renounce and +despair? Because I am so quiet with it all, do you think I have grown +cold overnight? But it is only, as I said, because all strength has +left me; even the strength to feel the deadliest pains. Let me sleep an +hour, and then you will be satisfied with the pitiable way in which my +heart will behave." + +He attempted to rise, but sank back again on his couch. Just at +this moment a knock was heard. They heard Angelica's voice on the +landing-place outside: "Only a word, Julie; I have something to give +you." + +Julie arose, and opened the door. Immediately she returned to Jansen, +who sat there perfectly indifferent, bearing a letter in her hand. + +"It is for you," she said. "It is Felix's handwriting. Will you open +it? I think you had better first go home with me and rest awhile, and +try to eat and sleep. You must have pretty well talked over everything +last night, so that it is hardly probable the letter can contain +anything new or important." + +"Do you think so?" he said, in a peculiar tone. "Because we were +friends, I suppose you think that each of us must know all about the +other. Well, then, my poor darling, open the letter yourself, and you +will get at the tricks by which chance has made the impossible +possible. Read it, read it whatever it is, it can't tell me anything +more that is worth knowing!" + +Breathlessly, she tore open the envelope; and standing at the window, +leaning her trembling figure against the sill for support, she read the +following lines. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + + FELIX TO JANSEN. + +"We parted so strangely, yesterday. Under the first shock of the +blow I ran away as if I had been blind and mad. As if one could +escape the mockery of hell in one's own breast! When I realized this, +I turned back. I should have been glad to have surrendered myself to +you--unconditionally--that very night. But you had already ridden away, +and the others had chosen to leave the house and hurry off by the night +train. Thus I am left here undisturbed, to come to my senses, and to +write you a long letter--to which I can expect no answer. + +"After all, what could you say to me? For we are parted again--we are +separated, after all. And the case is so terribly clear, that it makes +all explanation and discussion superfluous. Why, then, should I waste +so much paper? and even go out of my way to give an explanation at +which one scarcely knows whether he ought to laugh or weep? + +"But I owe it to you--no, not to you; for, at bottom, I did not sin +against you but against myself; and my confession, about which you will +perhaps care little, is merely a relief to that self, which I hope you +will grant me for the sake of our old friendship. I will try to be as +brief as possible. + +"You know how, just before my father died, I was sent to a +watering-place; and how I twice passed through the city where you +lived--the first time on my journey there, by way of Holland, where I +had business to attend to; and then again on my return, when I was +spurred on to the wildest haste by the news from home, and wanted to +spare us both a mere shake of the hand between the steamer and the +railroad, while in such a mood. In the interval between these two +visits, you had married and become a father. I looked forward to +becoming acquainted with your wife and child, but for that very reason +I put off our meeting until a brighter time, and passed through Hamburg +without suspecting---- + +"Still, in spite of all my anxiety as to how I should find my father, a +painful recollection followed me. You know I had never been very +straitlaced in my way of life or my adventures, and scarcely ever had +paid for this frivolity even with remorse. I was always conscientious +toward the conscientious, and unscrupulous toward the unscrupulous. I +had never consciously or deliberately tried to disturb the peace of a +single soul, and was above the level of the conventional _bonnes +fortunes_ one meets in his every-day path. + +"But, not to make myself out better than I was, certain temptations +were always powerful with me simply because of their adventurousness; +and a decidedly insignificant Juliet might have seduced me into playing +the Romeo, if the rope-ladder to her balcony had been a particularly +breakneck one. + +"Now, just before I came to Heligoland, various matters had united to +put me in a bad humor; and, besides, my nerves were unstrung by wrong +medical treatment, feverish work, and night-watching; and I troubled +myself little more about the society of the resort than I did about the +mussels and sea-weed on the beach. + +"In an instant all this was changed. A stranger suddenly made her +appearance--a young woman--who soon became the puzzle and the talk of +the whole island. The stranger's list recorded her as Madame Jackson, +of Cherbourg. She was without an escort, had rented rooms in a fisher's +hut standing quite alone, and appeared to make it her chief aim to set +all male and female tongues in motion by the oddity of her behavior. + +"She appeared on the beach very early in the morning in a toilet that +awakened the envy of all the ladies. It was not the costliness of the +materials or of the ornaments, but the singular grace with which she +knew how to wear and move in the plainest shawls and veils. Then, +besides, her face could not fail to attract the notice of everybody, if +only by its unusual contrasts. Her hair had a reddish-gold color, that +literally shone in the sun when she let it fall freely down her +shoulders; two delicate dark eyebrows curved over the softest blue +eyes, that looked out upon the world as if they hadn't the slightest +suspicion of the stir they were causing. A little black point-lace veil +hung down over her forehead--however, I needn't describe her to you. + +"Of course, the women insisted that her golden hair was dyed, and her +eyebrows painted. Such a play of colors did not exist in Nature. But +the men did not find it the less charming on that account. + +"An old Englishman was the first who ventured to address her, as a +countrywoman of his. She replied in the best of English, but so +shortly, that this unsuccessful attempt frightened away all others of +the same kind. + +"However, she herself soon appeared to tire of the isolation which she +had maintained for the first few days. She made advances to a +Mecklenburg lady, who had accompanied her sick daughter to the +seashore, and, under the pretext of sympathy, she struck up an +acquaintance with her which she let drop again after a short time, +evidently because it bored her. As she also spoke German, though with +an English accent, several country noblemen from the Mark, who had +fallen dead in love with her, ventured to speak to her. She treated +them with cool condescension, and it was not long before a regular +court had gathered about her, in which several young people with whom I +had heretofore associated allowed themselves to be enrolled. + +"They told me about the moods and whims of their lady, who was made up +of ice and fire; of childish innocence and the most refined coquetry; +of sentiment and wild audacity. + +"The English coldness, and the soft, dove-like smile, with which she +appeared in society, and the half-bored and half-ironical manner in +which she accepted the homage of her admirers, were merely a mask. When +she was alone with a person, an entirely different and much more +adventurous character made its appearance; a seductive, melancholy, and +yielding softness--which, however, changed at once into the harshest +coldness the moment he who had been encouraged by it began to grow +warmer, and attempted to seize the whole hand by means of the little +finger she held out to him. She would thrust back any such deluded +being into his place with the most cutting irony, and from that moment +would treat him with pitiless disfavor, without quite setting him free. + +"Several of my acquaintances had discovered this to their cost. They +gave me such minute accounts of their disgraceful defeats that I +recognized in this woman a type of those perfectly cold-blooded +coquettes who are--to the credit of the sex be it said--but rarely met +with. The aversion I had felt toward this sea-monster, from the very +first moment I had set eyes on her, was only the more confirmed by +this; but, at the same time, the thought sprang up in me that it might +be a good work, a meritorious act toward the whole male population of +the island, if I could succeed in catching this fisher of men in her +own net. + +"This purpose immediately became a fixed idea with me, actually as if +my own honor were staked on the result. As I knew that I was absolutely +proof against her charm, I proceeded to its execution without the +faintest scruples. She had long regarded my reserve with amazement and +anger; the consequence was that nothing was easier for me than to take +advantage of the first chance meeting I could bring about, to conquer a +place among her intimates. + +"I will refrain from inflicting upon you, scene for scene, an account +of the wretched comedy that now began. The fact that I had to do with a +skillful opponent aroused my ambition, and stung into life all the +dormant obstinacy of my character, so that, at the end of a week--for +she, too, staked all her pride upon finally seeing me at her feet like +all the others--we two stood confronting each other almost alone; her +former circle of admirers had withdrawn discomfited. + +"The great aim of my tactics was to represent myself as thoroughly +_blasé_ and unsusceptible, and to act as though I found the great charm +of my intercourse with her merely in the fact that I had at last +encountered a kindred nature, who, like me, had long since disclaimed, +as a ridiculous delusion, the possession of any warmth of feeling. She +accepted the _rôle_ I assigned to her, but it never occurred to her for +a moment to cease trying to tempt me out of mine. Occasional human +emotions, into which I now and then allowed my calumniated heart +to be betrayed, gave her some right to hope; and the freedom of a +watering-place afforded a hundred opportunities for putting me to the +test. + +"Well, it turned out just as it could not help turning out. One evening +we came home from a stormy sailing excursion, which had not been +entirely free from danger, half wet through and hungry. The return trip +had been delayed from the fact of the skipper's having been obliged to +stop in the midst of the storm, to mend, as well as he could under the +circumstances, a leak in his boat; the consequence was it was late when +we reached her fisher's cottage. She herself seemed to have forgotten +her enforced _rôle_ for the moment, and appeared to have no other end +in view than to refresh and warm me before dismissing me to my +lodgings. While she went into her chamber and put on some dry garments, +I was forced to stay in the front-room, which was itself little more +than a small bedroom, and exchange my coat--which had been soaked +through and through with the salt water--for a Turkish jacket she had +selected from her wardrobe; and soon, the tea steaming on the table, +the warmth of the fire--which was very grateful in spite of its being +early fall--and, above all, the extraordinary manner in which we were +dressed after the dangers we had escaped, threw us both into a reckless +and merry mood such as I had never before experienced in her presence. + +"But even now I was still very far from feeling anything like love, not +even as much as I had sometimes felt in the most trivial of my +adventures. In the midst of my sportive chat with this woman I felt at +the bottom of my soul an unconquerable aversion toward her, indeed +something almost like a secret horror of her--as if a presentiment were +warning me who it was that sat opposite me. But a demon drove me on to +play to the end of the _rôle_ I had once undertaken, for, as I +persuaded myself--mad fool that I was!--my _honor_ was at stake! Never +was a victory more dearly bought, never did a man who thought to +triumph feel himself so lost and degraded in his own sight as I did in +that hellish hour. Had I strangled this woman in a fit of blind +passion, it would not have so degraded me as this impudent comedy. + +"And the wretched woman felt that I could not, do what I would, carry +out the _rôle_ of a favored lover;--the suspicion dawned upon her in +what light I must appear to myself and she to me. Horror, hate, and +resentment toward me, and perhaps also shame and self-reproach, +suddenly overpowered her with such force that she burst into a storm of +tears; and when I, in compassionate surprise, attempted to approach +her, she thrust me back with a violent gesture of disgust, and +immediately afterward fell into a fainting-fit that seemed almost like +death. + +"That night I passed probably the most painful hours of my life, in +awkward attempts to bring her back to consciousness. I did not dare to +call for assistance for fear of compromising her. When at last she +opened her eyes again I saw that the most forbearing thing I could do +would be to leave her without saying farewell. + +"I found no sleep that night. I cursed the hour in which I had seen +this woman, my childish defiance and my profligate obstinacy. In vain I +endeavored to comfort myself with the thought that I had pretended no +deep feeling toward her, that I had received no more from her than I +had returned. The feeling of abhorrence, disgust, and self-contempt +would not be reasoned away--and now to-day I am almost tempted to +believe there was something mysterious about the whole affair: an +indefinite horror of the guilt toward my dearest friend, with which I +had laden my soul. + +"The following day I staid at home and saw no one. Not because I was +afraid of meeting her again; for it never entered my thoughts that she +would take a step across her threshold, lest she should encounter my +gaze. In this respect, however, I found myself deceived. She actually +made her appearance on the beach, about noon, as beautiful and +unembarrassed as ever; they had asked her about me, and she had replied +that she had seen nothing of me since we landed the night before. +Perhaps I had caught a cold on the excursion! + +"'_Une femme est un diable!_' + +"But on the third day, when, after pondering on this profound saying, I +issued forth again, anxious to see whether she would maintain her +calmness in my presence too, I heard that she had gone away by the +first steamer that morning--no one knew whither. + +"This was my last day on the island. About noon I received the sad +message that called me home. With the evening boat I left the scene of +this vile farce, the bitter memory of which did not fade from my +thoughts for long years afterward. + +"It is true the days of mourning that awaited me at home, and then soon +afterward the only true passion of my life, helped me to consign what +had happened to the dim realm of the past--until it rose up before me +this evening in all the horror of the present, and I was made to see +that the penance I supposed I had satisfied by my separation from Irene +was now demanded of me for the first time; and that the happiness of my +whole life was to be the price of a guilt which I thought I had long +since outlived. + +"For as to this open confession, which would be sufficient, if produced +before any court, to give you back the freedom you so long for--I know +you too well not to feel sure that you will never make use of it. +Therefore, you too will continue in chains, and I--how I should despise +myself if, with this hellish laughter of Nemesis ringing in my ears, I +should appear again before the dear girl I had so recently recovered, +and should offer myself as a fitting husband, while you and Julie were +obliged, by my guilt, to remain separated, at least before the world! +The fact that I have to suffer more than I sinned does not in the least +change the question. + +"It has always been the custom of Divine justice to make use of +different scales and different weights and measures, in exacting its +dues. The sin that one man is scarcely made to expiate by a +disagreeable hour costs another his own happiness and the happiness of +all those dear to him! + +"And now I have said all that I had to say. I shall refer Irene, to +whom I have merely sent a short note, to you, in case she should insist +upon learning the true reason why I am forced to leave her anew--and +this time forever--without looking on her face again. Perhaps if I did +I should not have the courage--and then I should be all the more +contemptible in your eyes. + +"It won't be long now before morning. Then I will saddle my horse, ride +back to town, pack my trunks, and take good care that this letter does +not come into your hands until there is no longer any danger that your +magnanimity or your pity will attempt to restrain a man who can only +recover his self-respect in exile. + +"Farewell!--I do not dare to call you by the old familiar name. But +since, from what I know of you, you will not cease, in spite of all +that has happened, to cherish a warm feeling toward me, let me say, in +conclusion, that you must not think of me as a despairing man who is +ready to throw away his ruined life too cheaply. The sweets of life +are, indeed, behind me; but much that is useful still lies open for me +to do, so that I may atone to all mankind for the old crime I committed +against an individual. Perhaps I may some time find out why it is that +fate should have chosen me, from all the rest, to be punished with +double measure for my sins. Felix." + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + +Julie had long ago finished reading the letter, and still she stood +motionless at the window, while Jansen, his head sunk on his breast, +sat on the sofa in a state between waking and sleeping. + +It was not until the sheets slipped from her hand and fell at his feet +that he started from his stupor. But he did not pick them up. + +"What does he write?" He asked in a hollow voice. + +"Just what you thought he would," she answered. "You will hardly find +anything new in the letter, or at all events, anything that can alter +things. So you had better read it at some calmer hour, after you have +had a good sleep. In spite of all, I feel sure the letter will do you +good. It would have been impossible to write of an unworthy subject in +a more dignified way, and I, at least, have no worse opinion of our +friend since I have heard his sad story. I believe everything will yet +go well, and we needn't even lose our friend. He speaks, to be sure, of +his self-imposed exile, and has also written a farewell letter to +Irene, because he is of too chivalrous a nature to allow himself a +happiness of which he thinks he has deprived us." + +He raised his head and looked at her with a dazed, inquiring look in +his eyes. + +"I don't understand a word!" he said. + +She bent over him, clasped her arms round his neck, and kissed him on +the forehead. + +"It isn't at all necessary you should understand me, dear one. Only +keep quiet and trust to your best friend. It is true, circumstances +treat us ill! but a true love and a little common-sense--oughtn't they +to come out triumphant over all the tricks of blind fortune? I am only +a woman; but it goes against my pride to submit so tamely and +helplessly, when life is at stake. For in our hearts, is not everything +pure between us two? And shall we not belong to one another merely +because all sorts of impurity and hostility work against us from +without? No, my dearest, we will not submit to this. Because we live in +an imperfect world, we will do our best to make it more perfect; at +least on that plot of earth on which our cot may stand." + +Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke, but she smiled upon him so +tenderly that, for the first time in a long while, a sense of warmth +passed over the soul of this broken-hearted man. + +"What do you mean, dear?" he asked, looking at her in surprise. + +"Be still--not yet!" she whispered, as she brushed back his hair from +his forehead and kissed his eyes. "But if you love me, as you say, and +as I must believe you do or else I could not live, trust me and do just +what I ask. In the first place ride home and take some breakfast, at +which little Frances will keep you company. And then lie down and sleep +as well and as soundly as you possibly can. But I must wake you up +toward evening, for I shall expect to see you at my house punctually at +seven o'clock. If you will be very obedient and do all this, you shall +learn, as a reward, the plan I have formed to smooth over these wearing +troubles, and to make four good people happy. Until then don't try to +think what it can be, but rely upon your true love. Will you do this?" + +She kissed him long and tenderly, while he stammered some confused +words. Then she led him out of the room. He cast a timid look toward +the door of his saint factory. + +"My child," he said, "I am ashamed of myself. You saw me there! Is it +possible you can love a madman?" + +"I am not a bit afraid," she smiled. "That wild spirit will never, even +in its darkest hour, shatter anything that is sacred to us both." + +When she saw the drosky roll away, she breathed more freely, and went +slowly into the house. She had given the friends, who waited +impatiently for news, a hint to withdraw and not to come in his way. +Kohle had gone with Rosenbusch into the latter's studio; Angelica sat +before her easel without touching a brush. Now, when Julie entered, she +rushed upon her in her violent way. "Well?" she cried. "But what is it? +you have been crying!" + +"Not for sorrow, dearest! Though there was room for that too. For much +that is bitter lies behind us, and how much more beautiful it all might +be! But the best is not lost--listen--I must tell you something." + +She stooped over and whispered something in her ear. A loud cry of joy +burst from the faithful soul. She blushed deeply from joyful surprise, +and the next minute she had her arms round Julie's neck, almost +suffocating her with kisses and caresses. + +"Foolish girl," said Julie, escaping from her at last. "What is the +matter? Didn't you always prophesy it would turn out this way in the +end? Now do me the favor to be as sensible as it is possible for an +artist to be. You must help me; without you--how would it be possible +for us to be ready by this evening? I want to tell you at once how I +have thought it all out!" + +They remained together for another half hour engaged in a most earnest +consultation, and then separated, after many tender embraces and +assurances of eternal friendship. The two men in the next room had only +heard through the wall the cry of joy, and then an unintelligible +whispering and murmuring; their impatience had been cruelly racked. +When, therefore, the door was heard to open, they too stepped out into +the entry with an air of quiet reproach. + +"Angelica will tell you all about it!" cried Julie, running quickly +down the stairs. "And I depend upon your both giving me the pleasure of +a call this evening. Don't be alarmed about Jansen. He is at home now, +and well taken care of--" + +With this she disappeared from their sight. + +"Fräulein Minna Engelken," said Rosenbusch, "will your at length +condescend to inform us what this tedious session, with closed doors +has to portend?" + +"Only as much as it will be proper and necessary for you to know, Herr +von Rosebud!" replied the painter, who was so excited and preoccupied +that she had put on her hat wrong side before, and had not succeeded +much better with the rest of her street toilet. "The two gentlemen are +invited to take a cup of tea with Fräulein Julie this evening, and are +requested to convey this message to Herr von Schnetz, to Herr Elfinger, +and to Papa Schoepf also. You are to appear punctually at a quarter +before seven in full uniform, and with all your decorations. For +particulars, see small bills. And now I must beg to be excused--I +have such a host of commissions--and since the lords of creation +cannot possibly be made use of for anything outside of the arts and +sciences--I will say _au revoir!_ until to-night, gentlemen!" + +She made a coquettish courtesy, hustled the astonished visitors out of +her studio without much ceremony, and flew, singing, down the stairs. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + +Julie had pursued her way with far more hesitation as soon as she +reached the street. She stood still more than once, as though she were +considering whether she should go on. In regard to Felix's letter to +Jansen--of whose contents Irene would have to be informed in order that +she might understand the flight of her lover--if she should send it to +her instead of delivering it herself, would not that be more +considerate? Would it not spare the poor girl the shame of looking in +the face a friend who knew of her lover's sins? And yet, on the other +hand, would it not be a last comfort to her to know that even those who +were most directly affected by it had not withdrawn their affection +from the deeply-penitent man, but would gladly have done anything to +convince him of the folly of his ideas in regard to his self-imposed +penance? + +She felt that she ought to tell her all this immediately, and by word +of mouth, hard as it would be for her. + +When she reached the hotel, the scenes of the preceding day rose up so +vividly before her that, fearful of meeting Nelida, she hurried up the +stairs without first making any inquiries at the office. Her anxiety +was superfluous. The countess had over-exerted her lame foot the day +before, and lay in bed in the greatest pain. + +But, upon arriving up-stairs, the baron came forward to meet her with +such a woe-begone face, that she was greatly frightened. + +"Where is Irene?" she cried. "Sick?" + +"I hope not," answered the old gentleman, grasping her hand, and +evidently breathing more freely, as if a guardian angel had at length +appeared to him. "At least, she was in such excellent health two hours +ago that, in spite of the bad weather, she suddenly made up her mind to +start off over the Brenner pass, accompanied only by her maid." + +"She has gone? Then I come too late!" + +"My dear Fräulein, you at all events come early enough to bring comfort +and aid to an old man. You see before you one who has had unexampled +ill-luck in his experience of paternal joys. My own daughter slams the +door in my face, and my other, my adopted daughter, who ought at least +to honor me as her educator and natural protector, runs away from me. +It comes all in a heap, to turn my hair gray before its time!" + +"But why did you let her go? Why did you permit her--" + +"Permit her! As if she asked for my permission! Just think of it, it +was _she_, on the contrary, who gave me permission to remain here a +while longer, in order that I might arrange my affairs 'in peace,' as +she expressed it, before following her--which, again, I am not to do +until I receive her express permission! Alas! my dear Fräulein, have I +remained a bachelor, and manfully withstood all the fascinations of +your sex, merely to be put under the control of two grown daughters in +my old age?" + +"Do tell me what reason Irene gave you for this sudden decision?" Julie +asked, after a pause. + +"You are very good to suppose she would consider it worth while to give +me reasons!" cried the old gentleman. "Well-educated children are +accustomed to do whatever they feel like, and not to hand in a long +account to their foolish papas. That that rascal, Felix, is at the +bottom of it all--so much I have worked out by my talent for +combination. Last night she went to bed in the best of spirits, and +even condescended to give me a dutiful kiss, whose value I knew how to +appreciate because of its rarity. Early this morning, while I was +sitting here waiting for her to come to breakfast, a note arrived from +her _fiancé_. I send it in to her, not suspecting anything out of the +way, and a half hour passes before I discover what the trouble is. All +at once the door opens, and my Fräulein niece appears in complete +traveling-rig. 'Uncle,' she says--and her face is as pale and as set as +a wax doll's--'I am going to start off for Innsbruck by the next train. +I beg you not to ask the reason. You may be sure that I have considered +the matter maturely' (maturely! Only think of it, dear Fräulein, a +whole half hour!) 'and, as I know that you won't be able to tear +yourself away from here so quickly, I sha'n't think of asking you to +accompany me. It will be sufficient if Louisa goes with me. I shall +make my first stop in Riva. From there I will write to you when you are +to follow. I'--and at this point her voice grew a little unsteady--'I +want to be alone for a while. You may say good-by for me to such of my +acquaintances as you see fit. Be sure and remember me most particularly +to Fräulein Julie. _Adieu!_' I was, as you can imagine, somewhat taken +aback by this order of the day in true bulletin style. It was not until +she turned away, and I saw that she was really in earnest in what she +said, that I found enough breath to ask, 'But Felix! Does he know about +this? And what shall I tell him when he comes and no longer finds his +betrothed here?' 'He will not come,' she said. 'He--he is prevented. +You will find out all about it later. Now I must hurry, unless I want +to miss the train.' And with this, she was up and away! Oh, my dear +Fräulein! I, too, can cry out with the old cabinet-maker in a +blood-and-thunder piece they are playing here at the theatre: 'I no +longer understand this world!' Tell me yourself, is there a kreutzer's +worth of common-sense in this whole comedy? To say nothing of the +capricious Fräulein, there is the lover, who, only yesterday, swore by +all the stars in Heaven he was the happiest wretch who had ever been +pardoned with the rope already round his neck--he comes to a different +conclusion over night and 'is prevented!' Now, you associate with these +artists, Fräulein Julie. Tell me, do they learn diabolical tricks of +this kind in their so-called Paradise, and are they the result of their +celebrated joviality? If so, then my Kabyles and Arabs are the most +Philistine of Philistines compared with these gentlemen!" + +Julie had listened, full of sympathy, to this long outpouring of the +heart. Yet now she had to laugh. + +"Dear Herr Baron," she said, "don't take the matter so to heart. I +think I am justified in assuring you that all will be cleared up and +come out right in the end. Whatever I can do to bring this about, I +shall naturally do with all my heart, since my own peace and happiness +depend upon knowing that the young couple are happy too. I hope soon to +be able to talk the matter over with your niece in person. In case you +should have any messages, I also start for the South to-morrow, and +shall most certainly go by the way of Riva." + +"You, too!" broke out the baron, springing up as if he had been struck +by lightning. "Now the world is coming to an end! That was the only +thing lacking. No, tell me you are only joking! What is it that drives +you off as if you, too, had been stung by a scorpion? And, besides, you +made me a promise in regard to my child--or, perhaps, she goes too, now +that all Paradise is being loaded on a cart, and Bohemia retreats +through the deepest snow to the land of sunshine?" + +"You make me laugh, dear baron, although I am truly in no mood for +laughter. I repeat, only have patience for a little while. I can't tell +you about it to-day. I hope to be able to put your mind at rest about +your daughter before I start. You will receive a few lines from me +tomorrow, and at the same time a letter to Irene's _fiancé_, whose +address I don't know--for, the truth is, he has gone away because of an +affair in which his honor is at stake. Promise me, as a reward for what +I am going to do as your mediator with Herr Schoepf, to see that this +letter reaches Baron Felix's hands safely, at all costs. They must know +something about his whereabouts on his estates, and, if the worst comes +to the worst, we shall have to seek for him through the newspapers." + +"Now I have it!" cried the baron, eagerly; "an affair of honor--a +_rencontre_--and that is why the girl was so beside herself that she +could not bear even my vicinity. Well, if that's the case, I don't feel +troubled. The boy has a sure hand, and won't be such a fool as to let +himself be shot dead now that he is engaged to be married. But only +tell me--_centre qui?_--overnight in this way--and all the while with +good comrades of his, and peaceable disciples of art to boot!" + +Julie considered it her wisest course to make no other reply than a nod +of the head to this conjecture, which evidently completely allayed the +old gentleman's fears. He grew very jolly again, kissed her hand +repeatedly, and only begged her at parting to do her best to help him +fulfill his paternal duties. + +"Tell the defiant little red-head," he cried after her, as she was +going down-stairs, "that I haven't the slightest desire to force my +tenderness upon her in person. We can get accustomed to one another by +letter, and familiarize ourselves with the thought that we have found +one another again. Life in Germany is too full of adventures for me. I +am going back to my quiet desert; and to you, my beautiful friend, I +will send the skin of the first lion I kill, as a reward for your +endeavors to help a father to a daughter who doesn't want to have +anything to do with him!" + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + +Jansen had gone home as if in a dream; and even the wild demonstrations +of joy with which he was received by his child did not succeed in +driving away the stupor that hung over him. He did not ask either +Frances or her foster-mother what had happened in his absence, but +stared vacantly, sighed often, and returned confused answers. When he +had eaten something, and drunk some strong wine, he fell asleep while +sitting at table, with difficulty roused himself sufficiently to tumble +into bed, and had just sense enough left to impress upon the woman the +fact that he must be waked at six o'clock. + +Then, when the evening came, little Frances only succeeded, after much +shouting and shaking, in dispelling his leaden sleep; from which, +however, the weary man awoke with joyous eyes. He lay for a while and +enjoyed the physical relief, the peace in his heart, which he had +missed so long. Every word his beloved had said to him that morning +came back to his mind again; he knew that with all her kind words she +could have meant but one thing; and yet he trembled at the thought that +it might all have been a delusion. But the certainty of happiness +invariably kept the upper hand. + +When, at length, he arose, he felt as if he had recovered from an +illness--as if he were invigorated by fresh blood--and he marveled at +this transformation; for he remembered that on this very morning he +would have liked best to burrow his way into the earth and never see +the sun again. He kissed his little daughter again and again, pressed +the old woman's hand--the foster-mother was absent--and started off for +Julie's lodgings. + +But, when he arrived at the house, he was surprised to see a bright +light streaming through the blinds of all five windows. He knew that +she was fond of having her room bright, but for all that it struck him +that all was not as usual. He asked the old servant, who helped him to +take off his overcoat in the hall, but received no definite answer; +and he was painfully surprised when he opened the door and saw the +brightly-lighted room full of people. + +It is true, they were all familiar faces. Angelica sat on a sofa by the +side of old Schoepf, Rossel had established himself in the most +comfortable of the two armchairs, and Rosenbusch and Kohle appeared to +be absorbed in the contemplation of some engravings on the wall, while +Julie was conversing with Schnetz and Elfinger near the door. A covered +table, decorated with beautiful bouquets, stood along the wall on the +side where the windows were, and little Frances's foster-mother was +busy adding the last finishing touches to it. They were all in evening +dress, and even Rosenbusch had refrained from wearing his historical +velvet-jacket, which the summer had dealt with pretty severely, and +appeared in a magnificent dress-coat--the only trouble with which was +that it was rather too broad, inasmuch as it had been taken from +Rossel's wardrobe. But the most beautiful of all, in her simplicity, +appeared the mistress of these halls herself. She wore a white dress of +the finest woolen, which exposed but a little of her white shoulders +and her arms as far as the elbow. A plain gold chain, from which hung a +medallion containing a miniature of her mother, was wound several times +about her neck; her hair was brushed back smoothly, and intertwined +with a garland of myrtle; in her bosom was fastened a dark-red +pomegranate blossom. + +In his first surprise Jansen started back from the threshold with a +look of bitter disappointment, which Julie alone understood. But, +before he had time to recover his presence of mind, he felt himself +seized by the gentlest hands, and disarmed by a single soft word +whispered in his ear. + +"Here he comes at last," she said, leading the speechless man into the +centre of the room. "And first of all I must beg his pardon for not +having told him beforehand whom he would find here. For even though +they are only our best and dearest friends whom I have invited to our +farewell gathering--still, I know you would have preferred to see no +one this evening but myself. And yet, though I would gladly do anything +else for your sake--I could not do otherwise than what I have done on +this occasion. Our friends all know that I am determined to share my +life with you until death parts us. Do you not feel with me that it +would be contrary to my honor and my womanly pride, to pass +clandestinely into the new life that has been opened to us, as if we +had committed a sin, instead of entering upon it with open brow, +followed by the congratulations of our dearest friends, as other happy +bridal couples do?" + +She stopped, for a moment, overcome by her emotion. But, as he made no +movement, except to raise to his lips the hand with which she held his, +she recovered her courage, and continued in a lower voice: + +"Our rôles are so singularly transposed. It is customary for the voice +of the bride to be heard only when she says 'yes' at the foot of the +altar. But here there is no altar, and the bride must pronounce the +wedding address herself. I confess that, since I plighted my heart and +my troth to my beloved friend, I have always cherished the hope that +things would turn out differently. I thought it would be so beautiful +to go up to the altar with him, as other brides do; and have our union +so sanctioned. But, since this could not be, what right have we to be +so cowardly and narrow-minded as to cling to a mere form when two human +lives are at stake? As soon as I saw that it was to decide the weal or +woe of his life and of his art, every scruple left me. We are neither +of us so young or so inexperienced as to be deceived about our hearts. +They are indissolubly bound together. And it is therefore no crime and +no presumption, but something that was as certainly decreed by Heaven +as was ever union between two human beings, for me to be from this day +forth the true wife of this man, and for him to be forever my beloved +husband." + +She turned away for a moment; her voice failed her. A breathless +silence reigned. The gentlemen, with the exception of the bridegroom, +who gazed fixedly in his beloved's eyes, lowered their eyes and stood +solemn and still as if in a house of worship; the little foster-mother +held her handkerchief before her eyes, and the big tear-drops rolled +down Angelica's face, while she struggled to look at her friend as +cheerfully and encouragingly as possible. Now, when the latter turned +to her, she hastily took up a little silver dish she had held in +readiness and handed it to Julie, trying, as she did so, to give her +friend's hand a stolen pressure. Two little gold rings, looking rubbed +and thin, as if they had been worn a long time, lay in the plate. + +"These are the wedding rings of my parents," said the bride. "For many +long years they served as the sign of a union that grew ever firmer in +good and in bad fortune. I think you will not oppose me, dearest, if I +use them to sanctify our marriage. I herewith give you this ring that +my father received from my mother, and swear to you, before these +friends of ours, to be a true wife to you and a good mother to your +child. And if you do not repent of having offered me your life--" + +She could not finish. In a sudden overflow of feeling he seized the +other ring, thrust it at random on one of her fingers, and folded the +blushing girl in a passionate embrace. It seemed as if he would never +let her go again; his breast heaved with suppressed sobbing, he hid his +face upon her neck, and her soft locks dried the tears he was ashamed +to show. + +In the mean while it appeared that none of the witnesses took the +slightest notice of this passionate outburst. Rossel seemed to be +earnestly studying the pattern of the carpet; old Schoepf took out his +handkerchief and polished his spectacles; Elfinger stood at the piano, +with his back toward the newly-married couple, and slowly turned over +the pages of a music-book. Angelica fell upon the foster-mother's neck, +while Kohle seized Rosenbusch's hand and shook it warmly. + +At length when the bride had somewhat recovered her composure and had +gently released herself from her husband's arms, Schnetz, who up to +this time had been violently plucking at his imperial, advanced toward +the couple and stammered out a few words of cordial felicitation. This +gave the signal for a general crowding around, and the most joyful +handshaking and congratulation. All spoke at the same time, each held +the hand of the bride and bridegroom as tightly as if he hoped never to +have to release it again, and every one seemed to want to repudiate, as +something very superfluous and out of place, the emotion which had +moved all their hearts but a few minutes before. Angelica was the first +to restore quiet and order to this confusion, by rapping on a glass and +requesting the guests to come to supper. The bridal couple were to +start on their wedding journey in a few hours, and, as the bridegroom +had not even packed his trunk yet, it was doubly advisable for them not +to let the wedding feast grow cold. + +So they took their places. Old Schoepf was given the seat of honor on +the other side of the bride, Rosenbusch captured a place next to +Angelica, and Rossel took charge of the foster-mother, although, as a +general thing, he studiously avoided having any women near him when at +table. Of the meal itself it will only be necessary to say that Edward +Rossel had placed his own cook at Angelica's disposal, and had sent his +servants along with her; the selection and the cooling of the wine had +also been his care, although, except himself, scarcely any one of the +guests took much notice of what they ate and drank. Those in particular +who sat opposite the bridal couple seemed to be so fascinated by the +sight of their happiness, by the beauty of Julie, and the dreamy look +of inspiration in Jansen's face, that they looked very little at their +plates. To this number belonged Angelica, whose hand wandered across +the table every now and then to meet that of her adored friend under +the shadow of the huge bouquet. + +Julie's plan was to carry her husband off to Italy, there to look for +some spot on which to settle down and found their home. When they had +made up their minds whether Florence, or Rome, or Venice was to be +their resting-place, they were to return and get little Frances, who +would have been rather out of place in this wintry wedding-journey of +her parents. + +Meanwhile Julie had taken advantage of a favorable opportunity to enter +into a low conversation with old Schoepf in regard to the future of his +grandchild. In spite of the power she exerted over all with whom she +came in contact, she did not find it easy to break down the old man's +obstinacy. Finding that all her assertions of how sincere the baron's +remorse was were of as little avail as her efforts to convince him of +the material benefit which the reconciliation would be to his +grandchild's future, she finally summoned cunning to her aid, and +represented that in granting this request he would be conferring a +personal favor upon her, a sort of wedding-present, which such an old +friend of her husband surely could not refuse her. The chivalrous old +man could resist no longer, and so, with a solemn shake of the hand, +Julie secured all that the baron could demand with any kind of justice, +although a complete reconciliation still seemed quite unattainable for +the present. + +Jansen had been listening to this conversation, which had been carried +on in a low tone; and now he, in his turn, thanked the old man by a +pressure of the hand. All this time he had scarcely uttered a word. His +heart was full of a bliss too deep for words; the cheerful noise of the +good people about him sounded in his ears as if it came from a great +distance; his eyes rested on the flowers before his plate, and did not +even venture to gaze at the noble woman who was really his own at last; +and it was only with difficulty that he could force himself even to +smile when the others burst into roars of laughter over some joke of +the lieutenant's, or some enthusiastic expression of Angelica's. + +As they sat thus, there suddenly burst forth from Julie's piano, at +which Elfinger was seated, the first bars of the wedding-march in the +"Midsummer Night's Dream." On the instant all voices were hushed, and +they stood listening to the fairy strains that made them forget, for +the moment, that the winter night with its thousand glittering stars +looked in upon them, and suffered no other elfin tricks than those +which possibly lurked concealed in the foam of the champagne glasses. + +When it came to an end the silence still continued for a while. The +bride had disappeared with Angelica into the next room, and now +returned again in traveling-dress. Schnetz now called upon Rosenbusch +to let the departing couple take some of his verses with them as a +farewell blessing on their journey. But he, who was generally so +obliging, could not be induced to do this at any price. He would only +promise to forward them his bad rhymes in black and white, accompanied +with marginal illustrations. + +"It is late," said Julie, "and we have still to take leave of our +child. We leave her in the best of care, and hope soon to see her +again. And now we must say good-by." + +She first embraced the foster-mother and kissed her warmly. Then she +gave her hand and a kind word and look to each of the others in turn, +and hastened out of the room, no longer able to control her emotion. +Jansen, too, had parted from his friends with great feeling, entreating +them all not to follow him beyond the door. Angelica alone insisted +upon accompanying the couple as far as the carriage. The others stepped +to the window and watched them get in, together with old Erich, who was +to accompany them, while Angelica still stood on the carriage step +unable to tear herself from Julie's neck. When she at last stepped +down, and the door was slammed to, those in the house stepped to the +wide-opened window, with full glasses and burning lamps and candles, +and shouted a loud "good luck!" to the departing couple. The waving of +a handkerchief and of hands from the carriage doors answered them; and +the drosky rolled away. + + + + + + _BOOK VII_. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +All of a sudden Paradise had become very desolate. In the rooms that +had once resounded with conversation and laughter until long after +midnight, there now assembled a mere handful of rather morose and +chilly comrades, who did not thaw out even over their wine. They sat +behind their glasses, silent and disconsolate, each one expecting of +the other that he would suddenly break out again in the old festal +mood. For, in spite of the great necessity for social intercourse that +is inherent in the German character, nothing is more remarkable than +the rarity of true social talent, and still more the lack of that +social sense of duty which urges the individual to do all in his power +to contribute to the general entertainment. Most Germans go into +society just as they go to the theatre, and believe they have done all +that duty requires of them when, from their seats, they have made +careful observations of the actors; and they think themselves justified +in complaining of being bored whenever the latter are in a bad mood for +acting. This unmistakable decline, which generally takes place in every +club soon after it has reached its highest prosperity, was still +further hastened, in the case of the Paradise society, by outward +circumstances. In Jansen's departure it had lost the one member whose +mere presence gave it its distinctive character. The very fact that he +had no desire to rule had led them to give him, without opposition, +that leadership for which he was qualified before all others by his +superiority, mature judgment, and simplicity of bearing. Still, there +were several among his friends who might have succeeded in upholding +the old traditions after his departure, had it not happened that the +very ones who were best fitted and most influential had themselves +personal reasons for withdrawing. + +Since the recovery of his grandchild it was impossible to induce old +Schoepf to pass an evening away from home. He devoted himself entirely +to taming his little refractory savage--a task in which he was obliged +to work very carefully, for the strange creature still threatened to +run away if they tried to restrict her freedom in the slightest degree. +She would not submit for a moment to any regular course of instruction, +but thought she did quite enough if she took charge of household +matters, for which she showed great aptitude, and attended to her +toilet or took a walk with her grandfather in her spare hours. She +never asked after his friends, Jansen and Schnetz, not even after +Felix, who had disappeared so suddenly. Her face had grown rather +prettier from good living and comfortable surroundings, and her figure +fuller; and she could now gratify her taste for dress, for her +grandfather treated her like a pet doll. It was no wonder, therefore, +that Rossel only grew more confirmed in his passion, particularly as he +made it a rule to see her daily. + +He came in the evening, generally bringing with him Kohle, who had been +the greatest sufferer by Jansen's departure. The two gradually became +so accustomed to the old man's parlor that they willingly gave up the +nights at the Paradise club for its sake. Usually, after they had +talked awhile, or had looked over some photographs or engravings, +Rossel drew a book from his pocket, either a volume of poems or +something else that was interesting at once to children and sages, and +began to read aloud; apparently without giving a thought to the girl, +who took pains to move about as much as possible, as if to show that +both he and his companion were utterly indifferent to her. Sometimes, +however, when he chanced to strike the right key, she would crouch down +on her little chair near the stove, and listen with open mouth and +wide-open eyes in which the light of intelligence was slowly beginning +to dawn. But she never allowed herself to be drawn into a conversation +about what had been read, and never varied in her manner toward her +admirer, so that he perceptibly grew thin with disappointment. + +This same conduct, so singularly made up of frivolity and persistency, +she maintained toward her own father. After old Schoepf had consented +to allow the baron to exercise at least the outward rights of a father, +an interview had taken place between the two; and the sincere +melancholy of the baron, who was usually such a lighthearted cavalier, +had not failed to make an impression upon the grim old man. As the +latter felt that he could not acquit himself of all blame in the +affair, they had arrived at an understanding which, though not exactly +cordial, was nevertheless very different from the frosty relations that +had previously existed between them; and arrangements had been made for +the daughter's benefit in accordance with the baron's wishes. During +the half hour which she consented to give, at her grandfather's +request, to an interview between her and the author of her being, she +sat at her papa's side as cold and stiff as possible, and almost as if +she were giving an audience; while he exhausted his amiability in +attempts to touch her heart. She did not feel the slightest affection +for him, she declared over and over again. Before she saw him she hated +him; now she felt absolutely indifferent toward him, and she could not +understand how her dead mother could ever have loved him. He must not +flatter himself that she would ever feel differently. She had never +been able to bear faces like his; she was sorry, but it was always her +way to speak the truth, and because he had lied to her mother was no +reason why she should now lie to him. Let him keep his money. She had +no intention of marrying; and even if she had she would not accept a +man who took her merely because she had a rich father. + +That the beautiful Fräulein was her cousin did indeed seem strange to +her. At first she laughed at the idea, as if it were all a joke; then +she blushed crimson, no one knew why, stood up suddenly, made her +father a stiff courtesy, and hurried out of the room. + +With a sigh the baron left the old man's lodgings, to go and give his +old companion-in-arms, Schnetz, an account of this unsuccessful attempt +at reconciliation. + +Ever since the wedding evening the lieutenant, too, had felt himself in +a misanthropic and depressed state of mind, which kept him at home for +months and made him forget Paradise utterly; all the more readily +because it seemed to him that Jansen's presence there was necessary to +its very existence. His artistic talent was, after all, merely the +shadow cast by his character when it chanced to stand in a humorous +light. He had taken up with the artists because their society seemed to +him more tolerable than any other that came within the great dreariness +of his ordinary life, less because they created beautiful works than +because they were men who were capable of producing something that lay +beyond the pale of ordinary society, for which he had a profound +contempt. Even they did not escape his Thersites mood. But the fact +that he had discovered one among them at whom he found it absolutely +impossible to rail, and whom he had not the heart to ridicule even with +his black art, had inspired him with a strange feeling toward Jansen; +as though, if the whole decaying world should fall to pieces and leave +only this one man, nothing would really be lost, and the human race, +copied after this model, would be restored to a far higher grandeur. He +had really _loved_ this man, carefully as he tried to conceal such +"sentimentalities" from every one, especially from himself. And now he +sat alone again in his Timonian bitterness, cutting silhouettes in the +dark, and angry with all other men because all of them taken together +could not compensate him for the loss of this one. + +He received the baron exceedingly badly, listened to his account of his +unloving child with a sardonic grin, and assured him that the only +consolation he found in this whole muddle of a world was that there +were still a few beings left, even of the female sex, who would not let +themselves be fooled by fine words, and who spoke out just what they +thought. He advised him to go to Africa and shoot a lioness, and adopt +her brood, whereupon he immediately began to cut out the baron in black +paper as the nurse of a wildcat, that he might give him a memento to +take with him on his journey. + +For although Irene had not yet given him official permission, her uncle +had, nevertheless, determined to follow her. As matters now stood he no +longer dared to present himself even to the old countess, who, when he +called to deliver Irene's farewell, had preached him an edifying sermon +upon her incredible conduct, and had received his jesting answer with a +very bad grace. There was not the slightest prospect of hearing +anything further in regard to Felix here in the city. No one knew in +what direction the supposed duel had taken him. Thus the old habit of +being under his niece's thumb, and the uselessness and joylessness of +his further stay in Munich, drew the old baron toward the South; and +the harsh manner in which even Schnetz had suddenly turned upon him +made the parting very easy. + +He put the silhouette in his letter-case without a smile, shook his old +friend by the hand, and left him, expressing the hope that they might +meet again under a warmer sun. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + +Two other pillars of the Paradise Club had grown shaky, and were in no +condition to arrest its fall. + +Rosenbusch and Elfinger had both appeared at the first meeting which +took place after the unfortunate masquerade, but in a conspicuously +depressed mood, and neither so witty nor so grateful for the wit of +others as was usually the case with them. + +On the way home they confessed to one another that the thing had +outlived its day; even the wine to-night was much sourer than in the +good old times. + +Now, the truth is, it was the very same wine, but its flavor could not +overcome the bitter taste on the tongue of the drinkers; and in each +this bitter taste arose from exactly opposite causes. + +Elfinger's deep and unswerving fondness had really succeeded in +stealing away his little devotee's heart from her heavenly bridegroom. +At one of those afternoon services in the little church already +mentioned, she had with many tears allowed the confession to escape her +that his love was returned; adding, however, a saving clause, that once +more put all his hopes to naught, that she should not on this account +consider herself any the less bound by her former vow, particularly as +her father confessor had clearly proved to her that she would be +neither happy on earth nor blessed in heaven unless she renounced her +sinful love for a Lutheran, and especially for one who had once been an +actor. + +To Elfinger's most eloquent attempts at dissuasion, the poor child had +only replied by tears and shakes of the head, and had answered the long +letters which her lover sent to her almost daily, by nicely-written +little notes, not altogether free from orthographical blunders, in +which she besought him in the most touching terms not to make her heart +still heavier, but rather to move to some other lodgings and never to +meet her again. + +This correspondence had, of course, merely poured oil upon the fire, on +this as well as on the other side of the street. Nevertheless it really +did seem, after all, as though their love was not destined to overcome +the evil powers; and in his grief at this Elfinger began more and more +to lose his taste for the joys of Paradise, generally spending his +evenings at home, brooding over plans for the overthrow of the +priesthood--which resulted in his toiling through all the pamphlets +against the Vatican Council, and in his composing for some of the +smaller newspapers violent articles favoring the abolition of convents. + +But, while his fate was trembling in the balance, his next-door +neighbor was still worse off; and, sad to relate, solely because of the +incredible worldly-mindedness of his sweetheart. Through his trusty +ally, the servant-girl, he learned that the only son of a rich brewer, +from one of the smaller cities of the region, was paying his attentions +to her; and the pretty little witch appeared to have refrained from +doing any of those things by which even the most obedient daughter may +show her aversion to a hated suitor. Rosenbusch, whose soul still clung +fondly to his romantic elopement project, refused, at first, to believe +in such villainous treachery. But when his letters remained unanswered, +the last one indeed being returned unopened by the post, he fell into a +terrible passion, spent whole nights in composing the most insulting +poems against brewers' sons and Philistines' daughters, and gave +himself up more and more to the most extravagant melancholy, +misanthropy, and dislike for work. He began to neglect his person too +in the most terrible way, wore, as his daily clothing, that ample +dress-coat of Edward Rossel's, which the latter had formally made over +to him after the wedding evening; and over this a coarse red-and-blue +plaid shawl, and a cap which he had cut out himself from his old slouch +hat, whose rim had been nibbled and considerably diminished by his +white mice, one night when he had left the door of the cage open. + +It is true, he still went regularly to the studio and shut himself in +under the pretense of laboring at some great, mysterious work; yet he +never touched a brush all day long, but cowered over the stove, in +which he managed to keep up a wretched little fire made out of +fragments of old fences that he had picked up here and there. There he +sat wrapped in his shawl, an unlighted cigar in his mouth, spying +around among his antiquities, to see which piece he should next tear +from his soul and deliver to the shop-keepers. + +For a very considerable payment that he had to make had exhausted his +last penny of ready money. In his emotion over the martyrdom of the +faithful dog, Rosenbusch had determined to give Jansen a pleasant +surprise by ordering a grave-stone for the little mound in the garden, +bearing the following profound inscription: + + Hic jacet Homo, + _Nihil humani a se alienum putans_. + +It was merely a plain block of granite ornamented by a dog's head +cut in profile, and the letters were not even gilded. Yet the +stone-cutter's bill proved to be twice as large as the first estimate +of the cost; so that he had been obliged to sell the sword and scabbard +of a Walloon cuirassier, a rusty snaffle-bit of the time of the Swedish +war, and his last halberds; and besides this, to paint an oil-portrait +of the stone-cutter's wife, in order to complete this act of respect +without incurring any debts. + +He never said a word about his troubles to any of his friends, not even +to Elfinger, and at the dedication of the monument, over which he +presided, he conducted himself with so much ease and dignity that they +all thought he had really found some unknown patron who advanced him +money on his great new picture. The fact that he appeared in a +dress-coat, in spite of the bitter winter cold, was attributed to the +formality with which he insisted upon treating the whole affair. + +He himself tried hard at first to keep up his spirits. He composed an +account of the ceremony in his most feeling verses, and accompanied +them with a sketch of the grave-stone and other illustrations relating +to the dedication, and sent the document to Florence, where Jansen and +Julie were then sojourning. + +The postage for this parcel cost him his last kreutzer. That day it was +nine o'clock in the evening before he ate his dinner (on credit); and +even then he went to bed hungry. + +But, though he deceived all others by the smiling mien with which he +wrapped himself in his shawl and his love-sickness, there were two eyes +near him that he could not blind in this way. + +Those were the eyes of his neighbor Angelica, and they, too, no longer +saw the world in such a rosy light as that in which it had appeared at +Christmas. + +The necessity that was inborn in her nature, to passionately worship +something or other, and to give vent to her adoration in extravagant +terms, no longer found anything to feed on since the departure of the +happy pair. Indeed, she would have had a very poor opinion of herself +if, after having found in Jansen the ideal of a true artist, and in +Julie the quintessence of beauty, she had now been contented to take up +with anything of a lower grade. At first she tried hard to grow +sentimental over little Frances, and to transfer to the child the +enthusiasm she felt for its parents. But as this was attended with some +difficulty because of their living so far apart, as well as on account +of a certain reserve peculiar to the little creature, she gradually +withdrew from this also, and contented herself with visiting the child +every Sunday and making enthusiastic speeches about its talents to its +foster-mother. The sensible little woman always received them rather +coolly, partly because she disliked everything like gushing +compliments, and partly because she felt hurt that her own children +were completely overlooked. For this reason, and for this reason only, +she was not sorry when, toward spring, a letter came from Julie with +the request to bring the child to its parents in Florence as soon as +the state of the weather would permit. Unfortunately, she could not +come for the child herself as she had hoped, her doctor having +forbidden her "for important reasons" to take the journey. Still, she +had too great a yearning to see Frances to be able to wait any longer, +and she entreated the faithful foster-mother to make still another +sacrifice for her sake, and to take advantage of the occasion to get a +peep at their Italian home. + +Some fine presents were added for the other children and a letter for +Angelica, in which her friend heartily besought her to accompany the +child, and, if possible, to spend the whole summer with them. Jansen +seconded this invitation in a very kind postscript; and the money +enclosed for the traveling expenses was reckoned for three persons. + +It is needless to describe the feelings of this good soul as she read +this letter, and saw the prospect opened to her of seeing again with +her own eyes, and clasping again in her arms, all that she loved and +admired. With beating heart and glowing cheeks she sat for a good hour +motionless before her easel, and had never in all her life felt so +happily unhappy or so torn by conflicting wishes. When at last she had +clearly made up her mind to decline the proffered happiness, she +appeared, in her own eyes, such a subject for commiseration, +notwithstanding all her consciousness of heroic virtue, that she began +to weep bitterly, and did not heed how her tears fell upon a wreath of +flowers in water color that she had just painted, moistening them with +an all too natural dew. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + +In order to explain this, we must disclose a secret that our artist had +heretofore guarded carefully from every one--even from herself, as far +as such a thing was possible. + +The fate of the one man with whom this peaceable soul always stood on a +war-footing, and who, as it seemed, possessed none of all the qualities +by which one could generally win her love and admiration, had become of +such importance to her in the course of time, that her own weal and +woe, and even such a happiness as had just been offered her, became but +a secondary matter when compared with it. + +That violent hate can turn into burning love is a fact that is no +longer considered strange. But the transformation of a thoroughly +honest and obvious contempt into the exact opposite, without the object +of these conflicting feelings having changed especially himself, must +ever remain a difficult riddle to solve. This was especially the case +because this contempt for her neighbor was not directed against his +character as an artist and a man, of whose good qualities she might in +time have become more clearly convinced, but rested solely on the +contradiction in their characters, which appeared to her to have been +completely reversed in their cases from what Nature had intended. + +Little of the Amazon as there was about her, she nevertheless felt +herself, as compared with Rosenbusch, the stronger, more resolute and +more manly of the two; and, since devotion to something higher and +stronger was a chief necessity of her nature, nothing would have struck +her as more absurd than that this flute-playing, verse-scribbling +art-colleague of hers, who decked himself out in silk and satin like a +bearded girl, could ever become dangerous to her peace of mind. + +Consequently, when she found that ever since that stolen kiss on +Christmas night, innocent though it was, the picture of the robber rose +up before her oftener than before, each time causing a certain ashamed +surprise to creep over her virgin heart, she fought against this +weakness with all her power, and took pains to exaggerate, in her own +mind, the faults and absurdities of this gay deceiver. But, in doing +so, she was obliged to occupy her thoughts with him to an uncommon +extent, and she often caught herself studying his praiseworthy +qualities with far greater fondness than his laughable ones. +Unfortunately, she had plenty of spare time for these studies; for, as +Schnetz expressed it, she was enjoying a vacation from idolatry since +Jansen's and Julie's departure. And, finally, what contributed as much +as anything else to make her heart more tender, was the just fear that +things were going badly with her neighbor, and might end seriously for +him some fine day, unless some one came to his aid. + +She positively breathed easier when she discovered that he was hungry +and cold, and began quite cheerfully to revolve in her mind how she +could best assist him. + +She took good care to say nothing about it to his friends. To her alone +he should owe his rescue, and that without having the slightest +suspicion of it. She herself could hardly be said to be swimming in +luxury; that which she earned was just sufficient to carry her through +the world respectably; for she had the greatest horror of anything in +her art that had a taint of fraud about it, and was exceedingly +conscientious with regard to such matters. More than once she had taken +back a picture, with which the person who had ordered it expressed +himself as quite content, merely because it did not satisfy herself. + +But the suspiciously jolly air with which Rosenbusch met her on the +stairs, the ominous stillness next door, where the stove no longer sang +its morning song, nor the flute summoned the mice to the dance, so cut +her to the heart, that she would not have hesitated even to have got +into debt, if by so doing she could have saved her friend from +bankruptcy. + +It was a sunny morning in April; she had accompanied little Frances and +her foster-mother to the station, and had thus given up the last thing +she had to exercise her sentimental devotion upon; and now she walked +slowly to her studio, firmly determined to seek consolation in her art. +But on arriving up stairs, where a fresh canvas was already awaiting +her, she made a mistake in the door, and, instead of going into her own +workshop, knocked at the battle-painter's, of whom she had not caught a +glimpse for several days. + +Rosenbusch knew her knock well. He always declared it was a pity she +did not play on the piano, she had such an excellent touch. However, he +did not seem inclined to let her in; at all events she had to knock +three times, and to call out that it was no use, he needn't pretend any +longer, she had seen him through the keyhole sitting there, and must +come in for ten minutes as she had an order for him; then, at last, he +slowly got up, crept to the door, sighing, and drew back the bolt. + +As she entered she cast a stolen look at the bare walls of the room, +that was as damp and chilly as a cellar, and at its miserable occupant, +who had folded his shawl tight about his body just as a beetle does his +wings in a rainstorm, and, with his pinched, half-starved looking +little nose, was making a wretched attempt to look chipper and pleased. + +"What are you making such an _ecce homo_ face for?" she said, in her +brusquest tone, which now stood her in good stead in concealing her +emotion. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Herr von Rosenbusch, to +sit here in a corner and mope, this heavenly weather. Besides, it's so +cold here that the oil would freeze on one's brush. But I forget, you +are not doing any painting now. You have another acute attack of your +chronic laziness--or are you sick?" + +"You are mistaken, honored patroness," said Rosenbusch, in his silver +tenor, which now, however, sounded a little cracked. "I am quite well, +with the exception of a certain nervousness that is often to be found +among artists; atrophy of the _nervus rerum_, the men of science call +it. Besides, I am not sitting here so idle as you perhaps imagine; I am +working away at my great picture, having accustomed myself of late to +first complete the picture in my head, down to the last light effect on +the nostrils of a pack-horse. In this way you save an incredible deal +of color that you would otherwise have wasted in constant scratching +out. You ought to try it, Angelica." + +"Thank you. Every one has his manner, and my ideas never come to me +until I see them first upon the canvas. But listen, Rosenbusch, does +this dry mental painting take up all your time? Couldn't you steal a +few hours in the day for outside work? A young officer's widow +has given me an order for a portrait of her husband, who fell at +Kissingen, to be inclosed in a wreath of laurels, cypresses, and +passion-flowers--between ourselves, a regular sampler idea. Only think +of it: the departed one on horseback, in the background the city; and +around it all a wreath, like onions about a dish of sauerkraut and +sausages. I let fall a few hints, as to whether it would not look +better, perhaps, if we should leave out the wreath, or at most paint in +the bust of the deceased? But no, it would not do to leave out the +horse, he might almost have been said to have been one of the family, +the widow declared--a beautiful bay stallion with a white star; and he +had also died in consequence of a wound. As the times are bad and the +lady did not find the price I asked any too high, I accepted the +commission. I immediately said to myself, it is nonsense; the horses +that you paint look a good deal like hippopotamuses, so you can't get +it done without Rosenbusch's help; and as he is now at work on his +great picture--but still, as you are only painting it in your head--" + +She turned away, so that he should not see the sly look that flashed +over her round face. But, in his wretched state of body and mind, all +his sharpness had left him. + +"You know, Angelica," said he, "that if I were painting the battles of +Alexander, I would always have time enough left for you. Besides, one +nag won't be anything of a job. I shall paint him with wide-spread +nostrils snuffing at the wreath, as though the laurels that beckoned to +his master had excited his own appetite. Symbolical allusions like that +can give an interesting air even to the most foolish picture." + +"Will you have the goodness to dispense with all your jokes? The matter +is serious, the picture is to be placed on a sort of household altar in +the widow's sleeping-chamber, and a night-lamp is to be kept constantly +burning before it. So, if you will undertake to do the figures, +including, of course, the portrait of the officer--a photograph of the +horse is also to be sent to me to-day--I will paint a wreath around +them, and we will go shares in the fame and money." + +She named twice the sum she had asked. For she was determined to let +him have the whole, which would be no inconsiderable sum for him in his +present state. But to her alarm he did not show the slightest joy at +this unhoped-for income. + +"My dear friend," he said, "the two departed ones shall be painted, and +I promise you they shall bear as close a resemblance to a fallen hero +and a defunct war-horse as any sorrowing widow could possibly wish. I +will also, if you insist upon it, paint my monogram on the nag's +saddle-cloth, so that we may figure together in art-history, like +Rubens and Blumenbreughel. But you alone must have the money. I will +never consent to be paid in vile lucre for acts of friendship, +especially toward a lady, and above all toward an honored patroness and +neighbor. And, by the way, we can commence at once; I have come to a +halt in my composition--particularly as I have a cold in my head--and +as one finally gets quite confused merely from the number of good +thoughts that come to him--therefore, if you please--" + +He approached with arm gracefully bent, in order to escort her over to +her studio. + +Angelica knew him well enough to feel sure that nothing in the world +would shake him in the resolution he had taken; and, since everything +that was chivalrous in his character flattered her hidden liking, she +made no attempt to dissuade him. She would find some way of +recompensing him for his trouble without offending his sense of +courtesy, and a great deal had already been won in inducing him to go +to work again and to come into a heated room. + +There, to be sure, he was obliged to take off his shawl and appear in +the unlucky dress-coat which, having been intended for Rossel's rounded +proportions, hung very loosely about his shrunken limbs. However, he +was not in the least embarrassed by this, but proceeded to explain to +his friend, with the greatest seriousness, the advantage of having +one's clothes too large. In the summer they were airy, for they caught +the wind; in the winter they retained a larger supply of warm air--a +movable wadding, as it were, between the body and the cloth--while they +were much warmer in an unheated room, especially when covered by a +shawl, on account of their having so much more material. He delivered +this lecture over a cup of tea which Angelica had prepared for him, and +which evidently restored to his inner man the warmth he had so long +been without. As he was never more active than when he was working for +others, the rough sketch of the equestrian portrait was completed in a +few hours, and so skillfully set in Angelica's border of flowers that, +as she expressed it, the whole picture looked "quite crazy enough," and +they were able to proceed at once to the shading. + +Over this common labor, that afforded them both great pleasure and gave +occasion for innumerable jests, the forenoon had slipped away unheeded. +Angelica proposed to take her dinner in her studio to-day, against +which proposition Rosenbusch had nothing to object. She dispatched the +janitor with a few secret commissions, and in a short time had +improvised such an excellent meal that Rosenbusch burst out in great +enthusiasm. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + +This was the first day for many weeks on which he had felt warm, and as +if he had enough to eat. Consequently he only made a few weak protests +when Angelica insisted upon furnishing him his meals so long as their +common labor lasted, and even made as though he did not notice that she +acted like a very Penelope, and again and again put off the completion +of the work under one pretext or another. However, the picture was +finished at last, and Rosenbusch, who had in the mean while grown quite +plump, would have been obliged to fall back again on his fasting and +brooding, had not his friend taken care to provide for him without his +knowledge. + +She succeeded in bringing it about that all the friends of the +inconsolable widow became possessed by a desire to have the effigy of +their dead or living husbands, done in the same way. Thus it happened +that our battle-painter was all at once completely overwhelmed with +orders for equestrian portraits, whereat he flew into a great passion, +for the modern uniforms were very much at variance with his Wouverman +tendencies. However, there were always the horses to fall back on, and +upon these he could labor with a good conscience, though he was always +complaining that the modern prejudices in regard to horse-breeding had +exterminated the majestic Flemish and Burgundian breeds. He painted +away at them with great zeal, "for his meals," as he expressed it, and +it was only when the approach of twilight forced him to leave off that +he allowed himself the pleasure of going round to his neighbors, and +inveighing against this servile labor to which his great work was being +sacrificed. + +Angelica never replied to his complaints by a single word. She had said +once for all that she thought there was nothing unworthy in his +painting military portraits by the dozen, provided he could get, +respectable prices for them; and in support of this she referred him to +some famous examples. But, in order that she might get him to work +again upon some larger task, she persuaded the young widow to give him +an order for the bombardment of Kissingen, at which her husband had +fallen. + +But in this case she had reckoned without her host. He absolutely +refused to paint so prosaic an affair as the bombardment of a modern +city, by modern troops who lay under cover and fired their cannon +unseen. Besides, he had not been present at the affair. Had he taken +part in person at the battle of Lützen? asked Angelica, maliciously. +No; but that was not a parallel case at all. Everybody would like to +have been present at such a glorious hand-to-hand fight as that, and +would, therefore, feel grateful to the artist who did his best to fix +on canvas the rearing chargers, the trumpeters blowing their bugles, +and the foot soldiers charging and dealing blows to right and left with +all their might. Modern battles, on the other hand, showed to quite as +much advantage on the maps of the general staff, where one could follow +on the table the scientifically-planned moves and countermoves by +geometrical lines and different-colored little flags. + +He could not be dissuaded from this, for on some subjects even +Angelica's influence over him had its limits. But the more she scolded +him for his obstinacy, and the more unsparing she was of her forcible +expressions, the better pleased she was at heart that he showed himself +so independent, so manly, and so unreasonable; and she often had hard +work to keep from falling out of her _rôle_ and throwing her arms +around his neck. + +She was less satisfied with the persistency with which he clung to his +quiet melancholy, even after the beautiful weather had come, and there +was no longer any lack of money, and his loose dress-coat had long +since been exchanged for a natty summer jacket. She attributed this +dejection of one who was generally so light-hearted to his affair with +the beautiful Nanny, of which, contrary to his habit, he never spoke to +her, but which, as she knew, had not turned out very satisfactorily. +And so for many a day she sat dejectedly before her easel, listening to +catch the slightest sound from her friend's silent studio, where, even +now, the flute gave forth no music; while from the deserted rooms below +no sound of mallet and chisel nor any other sound of life reached her +ear. + +In the mean while, as we have said, summer had come. Rossel had invited +old Schoepf and his granddaughter to his villa on the lake. But as the +old man did not think it would be just the thing for him to go and live +with the girl under a bachelor's roof, and as she herself would not +listen to the proposal for a moment, our "Fat Rossel" also remained in +town, an arrangement, by-the-way, that was far more agreeable to him. +Kohle alone took up his quarters with old Katie, in order to paint his +allegory of Venus on the wall. The foster-mother had returned from +Florence with a whole trunkful of articles of art and ornament for +Angelica, and a thousand greetings from the happy pair. She was never +tired of telling about the beautiful life the two were leading: how +Herr Jansen had begun some wonderful new works; how the Frenchmen and +Englishmen had gone wild over them; and how happy little Frances was +with her beautiful mamma. She had also seen the baron and Irene, but +nothing had as yet been heard of the young baron. + +These accounts had greatly excited the good soul of our friend. Long +after the cheerful little woman had gone, Angelica sat at the table on +which she had spread out Julie's presents, the photographs taken from +the pictures of the Tribuna, the mosaic brooch and the beautiful silks, +and sadly reflected whether she would not have done better if she had +crossed the Alps when she was asked, instead of staying here at home +and torturing her soul with the pangs of a hopeless love. + +Just then she heard Rosenbusch rush whistling upstairs with unusual +haste. Immediately after he entered her studio. His face had the same +thoughtless, dare-devil expression that it used to have in his most +flourishing days, when he still wore his violet-velvet coat. + +"What news do you bring, Rosenbusch?" asked the painter, who was as +little pleased with his jollity as she had been before with his +dejection. "You look as if you had just made a great find, a genuine +Wouverman at some salt-dealer's, or the red cloth of which Countess +Terzky dreamed in Eger. Well?" + +"My honored friend," he remonstrated, "you wrong me, as usual. What I +bring is not antiquities, but two very important items of news, a +serious and a comic one. Which do you wish to hear first?" + +"First the serious one. You alarm me, Rosenbusch. Why, you really look +quite solemn." + +"It is a devilish serious matter; there is war, real, genuine war, +though the whole thing sounds so absurd that, in spite of the +declaration by France that you can read in all the papers, one feels +almost tempted to bet that it is a newspaper hoax. What do you say now, +Angelica? Is that piece of news serious enough for you?" + +"Gracious heavens!" cried Angelica, "what an absurdity!" + +"That is a very wise remark of yours, my respected friend; but it can't +be helped; on account of just such absurdities the most sensible men +have lost their lives and whole nations their blood and treasure. To be +sure, there must be wars, else how would the battle-painters live? +However, you know my sentiments on that subject. Considering the +present system of artillery battles and rapid firing, you may be sure +it isn't for the sake of art that I am going." + +"You going to the war? You don't know what you are talking about, +Rosenbusch! You a warrior and hero? That is undoubtedly your second +item of news, the comic one, I mean." + +"You are again mistaken, and of course to my disadvantage, my dear +patroness. The second item has nothing whatever to do with the first; +on the contrary, if we must regard the first as a public calamity, we +can call the second a joyful private occurrence: Fräulein Nanny and +Herr Franz Xavier Kiederhuber are announced as engaged; the wedding is +to take place in three weeks." + +His face had not lost its indifferent expression while he spoke these +words, but yet there was something about his voice as if everything +were not yet quite right. + +"My dear friend," she said, at last. "I have been so little _au +courant_ of your affairs of the heart for the last few months, that I +really do not know whether I ought to congratulate you or to assure you +of my silent sympathy, I must tell you frankly, though, that of all +your lovesick moods I never could understand this passion of yours for +that insignificant, coquettish, and not particularly attractive little +doll--" (Even now, when the faithless one had ceased to be dangerous, +Angelica's jealousy vented itself in this harsh criticism.) "And now +for your grief at having found out such a little hypocrite to drive you +into the jaws of a park of artillery, belching forth death and +destruction--" + +"It isn't that at all," he interrupted, with a heavy sigh. "It isn't +any sardonic mood that makes me think this vengeance of fate absurd. +For all I care she may make her brewer's son happy, and prefer his beer +and brewery horses to my oil and chargers. That unfortunate love of +mine has long ceased to be anything but a spectre, a mere phantom, as +is shown most clearly by the verses I have composed about it. Elfinger +told me to my face long ago: 'You don't love her at all; the stronger +the love, the weaker the love poems, and yours are unusually good this +time!' Nevertheless, Angelica, you are not altogether wrong in +supposing that I am going off to the war on account of an unhappy +passion. It is the same hopeless affection that has robbed me of my +usual good spirits for some time past. But what's the odds? The powder +that is to remedy this folly has been invented at last!" + +"_Another_ unhappy love affair? Oh, you wretch! I could almost take +sides with the beautiful Nanny; she must have found out what a +butterfly with blue-velvet wings was fluttering around her!" + +"Well, whether what she did was right or wrong, she certainly conferred +a great favor upon us both by acting as she did. But, just because I +tried to retain my constancy as long as I possibly could, I grew +melancholy when I found how much difficulty I had in feeling the +slightest pain at the faithlessness of this young daughter of the +Philistines--of this Delilah for whom I once out off my beard and +flowing locks. And even though I have been perhaps unduly led, by my +sense of justice, to do homage to different styles of beauty at the +same time or in rapid succession--I am punished now more cruelly than I +have deserved. However, there is no help for it. It is to be hoped it +won't last long. It is true that as volunteer nurses, for as such we +are going to report ourselves (for Elfinger can't stand it any longer +either), we shan't at once get into the heaviest fire; and of course no +one can expect for a moment that we would enter as privates at this +late day, and go through a course of drill, and then follow after the +rest when the sport is all over. But during the battle, when all is +confusion, when human beings are bowled down like lead soldiers, +perhaps there will be a stray bullet for one of us--" + +"Don't talk in that godless way, Rosenbusch! It is very noble and brave +of you to want to go with the rest; it certainly does you honor. But, +because it is such a holy cause, do leave your jests behind you; forget +'all lighter trifling, dalliance sweet,' and--and when you are in the +field--and really--" + +She suddenly broke off. The thought that he was going to leave her, +that he would be surrounded by dangers and might stand in need of her +help, came over her with such force that she had all she could do to +restrain her tears. + +He was gazing at the ground with a sad face, and had not noticed her +emotion. + +"You are in one of your jesting moods again," he said, staring at a +large photograph of the Cellini "Perseus." "And I willingly give you +permission to ridicule all my former 'amours and courtesies,' and to +look upon them as Ariostian sports, springing from pure love of +adventure. But, you shall not lay hand on this, my last and lasting +passion. It is of a very different calibre; and, though I dare not +mention its name to you, I am sure you would yourself admit that this +flame has nothing in common with the Nannies, Annies, and Barbaras that +I once loved. But I won't be such a fool as to take you into my +confidence. Then, indeed, you would let out upon me the vials of your +raillery, and I am anxious that we should part good friends." + +"You speak in riddles, Rosenbusch. If you really should lose your +reason in a sensible way--I mean over a subject that is worth the +trouble--why should I make fun of you?" + +"Because--but no, it is useless to say any more about it. Do tell me, +for Heaven's sake! would you have believed this Monsieur Ollivier to +have been capable of such a vile performance, such a piece of silly +defiance--like a corps-student 'renowning it?' A man that only a little +while ago--" + +"No dodging, Herr von Rosebud. You have told me too much for you to try +and put a seal on your lips now. As a woman, and as your true, sincere +friend, it is not only my right but my duty to be curious. Out with +it--who is this latest flame?--and if I can aid you by word or deed--" + +Her voice grew unsteady again. She did not dare to look at him. He, +too, let his eyes wander around the studio in another direction. + +"If you positively insist upon knowing," he stammered, at last--"and, +after all, there's nothing to be lost or gained by my telling you--the +person of whom I speak is the only female being to whose peace of mind +I can't imagine myself in any way dangerous--I couldn't imagine it even +in a dream. It is impossible for her to feel toward me either love or +hate. She has given me unmistakable proof of this--partly by constantly +scolding, railing, and mocking at me, partly by the kindest and most +brotherly friendship--such as one only shows to a person when one is +absolutely certain that one can never fall in love with him. I ought to +have been warned by this, and have taken better care of my heart. But, +just because such a relation was quite new to me, I fell into it +blindfold, and now I am plunged up to my ears in the most hopeless, +most undying, and most imprudent passion. There you have my confession. +I think you will dispense with my mentioning to you the name of the +person in question. But I won't detain you longer. I see you have your +palette ready to go to work. _Adieu!_" + +He turned toward the door. But he had not crossed the threshold when +his name reached his ear--and his heart, too, because of the unusually +tender tone in which it was pronounced. He stood as if rooted to the +spot, and waited to hear what more the voice would say. But he had to +wait a good while, so he spent the intervening time in observing the +wall, which separated this room from his own, and which was large +enough to easily admit of a door being cut through. + +"Dear Rosenbusch," the voice began again, at last, eyen a little more +tenderly than before. "What you have said is so new, so entirely +unexpected to me--and then, again, so confusing--come, let us talk +about it like a couple of sensible people and good comrades--" + +He again made a movement as though he were going. The beginning did not +strike him as being particularly consoling. "Sensible discussion and +good-fellowship!"--if she had nothing better than that to offer him-- + +"No," she continued; "hear me out, first. You are always so hasty, +Rosenbusch! If you will only promise me not to be offended at anything +I say--for I would like to be perfectly frank. Will you promise me?" + +He nodded rapidly three times in succession, and gave her an almost +timid look; and then hastily looked down again. In the midst of her own +confusion and embarrassment she could not help smiling at the shy, +penitent air of one who was usually such a self-confident lady-killer. + +"I can't deny," she said, "that in the first part of our acquaintance +I really did not think much of you; you were--pardon me for saying +it--rather disagreeable than dangerous to me. The very name of +Rosenbusch sounds so perfumed and sentimental--" + +"Well!" he ventured to interpose, "Minna Engelken is also a devilish +sweet name!" + +"But, still, it doesn't sound so Jewish. I took you for a Jew in +disguise." + +"We have been baptized these hundred years, and my grandmother came +from a Christian family, and was a Fräulein Fliedermüller." + +"Then, besides, I found you too--how shall I say?--too 'pretty' for a +man, and the others all said you were amiable. Pretty and amiable men +have always been intolerable to me. They are generally conscious of it, +and contemplate themselves in the glass at moments when they are not +watched, and comb their beard and even their eyebrows. And all the +while they care for no one but themselves; and, if they pretend to grow +sentimental over a woman, it is done in such a way that the unfortunate +person thus favored would rather receive a box on the ear than such +homage, if her heart is in the right place. Don't get angry, +Rosenbusch; it isn't your fault that you have such a pretty little nose +and are so amiable--for that you really are. But you will understand; +an old girl who is no longer pretty, and who never was considered +amiable--" + +"Oh, Angelica!--" + +"No, you mustn't interrupt me. It would be very stupid of me if I were +not wise enough to know how I look, and what impression I make upon +people after having had nearly thirty years in which to make my own +acquaintance. How old are you, Rosenbusch?" + +"I shall be thirty-one on the fifth of August." + +"Then there is scarcely thirteen months difference between us. Don't +you see, that in itself is an objection? But to proceed: your +flute-playing, your white mice, your many love-affairs; can you blame +me for looking upon you as a man who was not in the slightest degree +dangerous--to me, at least? I had formed a very different idea of the +man who was to win my heart, and, if I chanced to find such a one, I +knew at once that it would be an unfortunate affair if I regarded the +matter seriously. For such men want very different wives, and in that +they are quite right. So I intrenched my poor soul behind my sense of +humor, and, as you see, that was both a good and a bad thing to do; +good, because it has helped me over many a bitter hour; bad, because it +made me appear even less amiable than I really am at bottom. A woman +who has humor, who does not weigh each of her words--where are the men +who still believe that a good, womanly heart lies behind it all? The +conceited men, like yourself, for instance, are especially repelled by +such a one. Unless we cower in sweet bashfulness before your great +words and beards, we are not worthy to be loved by your great souls. +For that reason I was truly never more astonished by anything than by +what you have just said to me. It is true, that since--well, for some +time past I will say--I have gained a very different opinion of you; it +is my duty to confess this to you after having so candidly told you the +rest to your face. I have learned to esteem you highly, Rosenbusch; +I--I even believe I must make use of a stronger expression; I have +conceived a hearty love and affection for you--no, you mustn't +interrupt me by a single word, it must all come out first. Do you know, +on that night when you behaved so naughtily--you recollect it, don't +you?--you took a liberty which you regarded merely as the toll of +gallantry, but which a girl who has any respect for herself--though I +have no prudish notions about such things when people are really in +love with one another--and that was it that made me feel so badly, +because you took such a liberty without really loving me; and I believe +I didn't close an eye half that night, and that I shed many secret +tears, because--because, do what I would, I couldn't be angry with you +for it!" + +"Angelica!" he cried, eagerly, approaching to seize her hand, which, +however, she instantly drew back. "Why do you speak this way, if you +will not make me happy--if you will not even let me kiss your hand? No, +I won't be kept from speaking any longer; for, no matter how much about +my bad qualities you may still have on your conscience, you can +no longer deny that you like me, that you think well of me; and +that is the main thing and a thousand times better than I ever dared +to hope. Dearest, best Angelica, only try and believe that even a +thirty-one-year-old battle-painter can improve. I will stop up my flute +with lead, I will give my mice strychnine in a piece of Swiss cheese, +and will wear a covering over my nose so that the children shall run +away at sight of me. And, finally, in regard to my love-affairs--do you +really believe I am so wanting in taste, to say nothing of all nobler +motives, as to have eyes for such every-day doll-faces, after having +found in your countenance the image of all love and goodness, of all +wisdom and grace?" + +In the mean while he got possession of one of her hands and pressed +it so earnestly, at the same time gazing into her face with such +true-hearted, mischievous eyes, that she grew quite red and came very +near losing her firmness. However, she quickly recovered herself again +and said: + +"You are a truly dangerous man, Rosenbusch. I begin to realize that now +from my own experience. If I did not call to my aid all the little +sense and self-consciousness I possess, we should now fall into one +another's arms, and ruin would take its course. One more name would +stand on your list; you would go to the war, and there, in the great +events that go to make up the history of the world, you would find the +very best excuse for letting this little affair of the heart drop +completely out of your memory. No, my friend, I think too much of +myself for that. I confidently believe that my respected person has +merely become of importance in your eyes, because I have heretofore +withstood your amiability in a perfectly incomprehensible way. As soon +as you should become convinced that I too am only a weak woman, I +should become a matter of great indifference to you. Now, it is true, +my stupid honesty has prevented me from concealing this from you; but I +don't regard myself as hopelessly lost even yet. Now, if you go to the +war, we shall both be equally well off. We shall both have ample time +and opportunity for forgetting one another. I, to be sure, here alone +in this deathly quiet house, where I hear nothing but the squeak of +your mice--I shall have somewhat the harder time. But perhaps some +other dangerous youth will move into your quarters--a dark-complexioned +Hungarian or Pole--I have always had a partiality for brunettes, and +for that reason alone it is a great mistake for me to love you with +your red beard." + +She had to turn her head away, it was impossible for her to conceal her +emotion any longer by forced jests. She stealthily pressed her curls +against her overflowing eyes, but, nevertheless, she shook her head +when he put his arm around her and drew her to his breast. + +"No, no!" she whispered; "I don't believe it even now. You shall see it +will turn out badly. It's so silly of my stupid tears to give the lie +to my wisest words; and then, too, my foolish heart, that ought to be +old enough not to let itself be deluded--" + + * * * * * + +On the evening of the same day Angelica wrote a long letter to Julie. + +After she had relieved her heart of a thousand things that concerned +her friend alone, and had arrived at the end of the twelfth page, she +finally summoned up all her courage, took a fresh sheet, and wrote the +following postscript: + +"To tell you the truth, I was going to be so cowardly and deceitful as +to send off this letter without telling you of the great event of this +day. I don't mean the declaration of war by France, which will be an +old story by the time this letter comes into your hands, but the +offensive and defensive alliance that I have to-day concluded. With +whom, I should very much prefer you should guess for yourself. But as +it will be too long for me to wait before I can learn whether you have +guessed rightly or not--and as one is said to lose in shrewdness what +one gains in happiness--I will state at once that the artful man +who has surprised my well-known firmness and prudence is no other +than--Rosenbusch. I hope you are not so far-sighted as to see that in +making this confession I blush to such an extent as to do all honor to +my future name--though my rosiness is of a somewhat faded sort. Oh, +dearest! what is our heart? It really seems as though that inexplicable +and irresponsible something within us that controls the blood in its +course and makes the hand cold or warm if we place it in that of +another, exists almost independently of all those other forces which +govern that little world we call the individual. How often have I made +this dear fellow-creature the butt of my merciless sallies! How often, +when alone with you, have I caricatured his weaknesses and human +frailties--to be sure he has changed very much since you last +saw him--and made merry over this rat-catcher with his flute and +blue-velvet coat! And all the while my heart sat in its cell as still +as a mouse and made no movement; nay, even my conscience did not rebel +at the godless way in which I denied that love we are commanded to feel +toward our fellow-creatures. And now all of a sudden-- + + 'Frailty, thy name is woman!' + +Oh, dearest! do promise me to forget all my malicious sayings just as +quickly as possible, and to believe that I had long been convinced of +the critical state of my heart, even before this bad man confessed his +feelings to me. I did not write you anything about it, because I +naturally regarded the matter as a wretched piece of stupidity on the +part of this above-mentioned heart, and even now I can't quite believe +in it. You know I never was very lucky in regard to real happiness. And +for that reason I haven't much faith even now; if it is true that he +loves me to distraction, as he declares he does, I feel convinced I +shan't get any enjoyment out of it, and he will be sure to get killed, +for he is going off to the war as a volunteer nurse. And yet I have not +tried to dissuade him from taking this manly step. You remember that my +chief objection to him was that he wasn't quite manly enough. And now, +after all, his love is to be put to the test of fire, and we shall see +whether he will bring it home uninjured from the smoke and horror of +battle! How shall I bear the separation! I shall paint a few poor +pictures and get a few gray hairs, and then when he comes back he will +realize clearly what a mistake he has made. But, as God wills! I'll +bear it quietly. The times are so great, who has the right to think of +his or her poor person? All is enthusiasm; Elfinger is going too (his +little nun seems to have driven him to desperation), and, what will +rejoice you, Schnetz has joined his old regiment again, and looks upon +life like a new man. It touched me to hear our good Kohle, who paid me +a visit this morning, curse his poor health, which shut him out from +all the hardships of war. He has designed a splendid tableau: Germania +on the summit of the Lurlei rock, from which she has cast down the +enchantress in order to excite all her sons to battle against the enemy +by her song of triumph. Rossel, who, of course, would be perfectly +useless away from his rocking-chair, has at least subscribed a thousand +gulden for the benefit of the wounded. Every one according to his +strength. I shall make lint of my paint rags, and sacrifice my heart's +blood for the cause in another way. Farewell! Rejoice in your +unclouded, paradisaical, peaceful life in the beautiful South; and +write to me soon, dearest, beautifullest, happiest, only sister mine! +Rosenbusch wishes to be remembered. A fortnight more--and then in this +whole house, where so many dear ones have lived and labored, there will +beat but one lonely heart--that of your Angelica." + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + +When that old earth-shaker Vesuvius grows tired of his peaceful +slumbers and, breaking out into sudden fury, lights up the night far +and wide with his flaming torch, till all around is bathed in purple-- + + "In Capri the Marina + And Naples Day and Mergellina," + +--not only is the hut of the poorest vintager reddened by the terrible +glow, but, in the yard behind, the water bubbles in the well, and a man +skilled in reading the signs can estimate the strength of the eruption +from the boiling and steaming of this narrow, walled-up fountain with +as much accuracy as from the surf of the open sea, that washes the foot +of the buried cities. + +So, too, are the changes of that light, which streams from those +immortal deeds and sufferings that move the world, reflected in the +lives of humble mortals; and it would be no slight task to trace out +the signs of such a time not merely on the battle-field, but in the +homes and huts of those who were left behind. + +A psychological study of war, such as we may expect from some one +better fitted for the task, will have to bring out this reverse side of +the medal sharply and clearly. But the novel steps back modestly when +its elder brother, the epic, in glittering armor and with clang of +arms, enters once more upon the world's arena. Where every individual +lot was so completely merged in the fate of the nation, we should give +the reader but a poor idea of our friends if we showed them as busy +with themselves, their personal aims, duties and interests. That each +of them had proved himself ready, according to his manner and ability, +Angelica's letter has already shown us. Therefore we are all the more +sorry that the excellent writer herself did not quite rise to the level +of the time. + +It is true it never occurred to her to complain that the Eden-like +condition of a life devoted to art, and removed from all worldly +turmoil--where beauty is the highest aim of all striving, and that +alone has the right to existence which is perfect in itself--had +suddenly been destroyed, and had given place to a hard, merciless +reality. Upon the whole she had a warm appreciation of the magnitude of +the great historical issue at stake, and it filled her with joyful +enthusiasm to see how earnestly all who were connected with her, as +well as the whole people, felt the force of the old proverb that one +should make a virtue of necessity. + +Yet in spite of all this her heart, usually so brave, was unable to +preserve this heroic spirit, that sustained many a weaker one, through +the long time of trial. + +Even when taking leaving of Rosenbusch she had shown herself strong. +She felt it her duty not to make heavy her parting lover's heart, but +to give him, in her own person, an example of the way one should +sacrifice one's dearest wishes on the altar of the fatherland, with +smiling magnanimity. But this "_P[oe]te, non dolet_" revenged itself +upon her. Scarcely was she alone, when she reproached herself for +having pretended an unwomanly hardness and severity that was calculated +to frighten away her sensitive friend, rather than to bring him nearer +to her. She immediately wrote him a long letter, in which, for the +first time, she confessed her great love for him without reserve; +beseeching him in the most moving terms not to expose his life +recklessly, sending him all her prescriptions for rheumatism and chafed +feet, and entreating him to write to her at least once a week. + +These weekly letters of his were now the only thing for which she +seemed to live, aside from the mere mechanical activity with which she +devoted herself to works of charity in the women's societies and on her +own account. She never appeared among her friends except on those +occasions when she had just received one of these letters from the +front, and then she came running to old Schoepf, her cheeks glowing +with joy, to tell him the latest news about Rosenbusch and Elfinger, +and to have pointed out to her, on the special map that Rossel had +given the old man, the exact spot where her lover must now be. But for +everything else she showed but slight interest, just as she seemed to +have completely lost her humor. + +She was only amusing when she came to speak about the _francs tireurs_ +and the treachery of the native inhabitants, by whom she was +perpetually imagining her lover attacked, plundered, maltreated, or +even killed, in spite of the red cross which she had made and sewed on +his coat-sleeve with her own hands. On these occasions she indulged +in such droll maledictions upon the Gallic national character, +and recounted such incredible instances of her own cowardice and +ghost-seeing, especially at night, that she finally had to join in with +the laughter of the others, going home again with her heart somewhat +lightened. + +During all this war time she did not touch a brush. As nobody cared for +flower pictures, it was evidently a saving for her to cut up her canvas +and make use of it for sewing purposes, rather than to waste oil colors +on it. + +She never allowed any of the camp letters that her tender-hearted lover +wrote her to be seen by any one else. They were love-letters, she said, +and not newspapers, and belonged to her alone. Once only did she +prevail upon her heart to part with one, in order to give her friend in +Florence a pleasant Christmas surprise, for Julie knew that she could +give away nothing in the world that was dearer to her than such a token +of life and love from the hand of her betrothed. She accounted to Julie +for the fact that this epistle, a comic rhymed affair in Rosenbusch's +old light-hearted manner, sounded less tender than the others, by +explaining that it was accompanied by an extra sheet in prose, which +dealt with the intimate affairs of the heart. True to the profound +saying of Elfinger--"The stronger the love, the weaker the verses"--our +lover had taken good care not to compose his actual love-letters in +rhyme, for which Angelica felt grateful to him in her soul. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + +The hard war winter was over; the spring had brought peace and the +birth of a new German Empire; and midsummer saw the victorious host +returning to its home. + +It is just two years since that day when our story began. Once more it +is hot and still in the Theresienwiese, so still that a flute concerto +from the window of the studio building could be heard for a long +distance around. But the flute is silent. Moreover, although it is a +weekday, a Sunday calm hangs over the country round about. No roll of +carriages is heard, and no people are seen hurrying busily through the +streets of the suburb. Yet the great bronze maiden before the +Ruhmeshalle does not seem surprised at this loneliness and quiet. It is +true, without raising herself on tiptoe, she can look away over the +houses of the city, to the gate on which stands a smaller likeness of +herself in a chariot of victory, drawn by four stately lions with +majestic heads and manes. And so she knows the reason why everything in +her neighborhood appears as if it were dead. Just as the blood from the +whole body streams swiftly to the centre of life, when some sudden +stroke of fear or surprise reaches the heart, leaving the extremities +paralyzed and lifeless, so the whole population had collected around +that spot where their heart was to-day--the arch of triumph through +which the conquerors were to enter. The great bronze woman sees the +flash of arms and the waving of flags on the high-road before any one +else, and something like a smile flits across her tightly-shut lips. +Any one who had been watching her closely at this moment would have +seen that she raised her arm higher than usual, and slightly moved the +wreath in her hand, as if in token of greeting to the triumphal +procession. This occurred just as the bells rang out from all the +church towers in the city, and a shout of joy from a hundred thousand +throats announced the arrival of the advance guard. + +Among the entering host are two faces well-known to us. + +At the head of his regiment, which has left nearly half its number on +the cold ground at Bazeilles and Orleans, and for that reason has to +accept a double tribute of flowers from the windows on the right and +left, rides Captain von Schnetz, his lank figure seated bolt upright in +the saddle, his breast blazing with orders, and his whole person +covered from head to foot with the bouquets which, aimed at the rider, +have fallen off and been handed up to him by the boys that run along at +his side. He has decorated his sword with them, and his helmet, and his +pistols, and his horse's trappings, although usually he is no great +admirer of flowers. Nor does he do this now for his own glorification +or pleasure. But he knows that, at a window in the first story of that +stately house over yonder, there sits a woman, thin and prematurely +old, but whose cheeks, usually so pale, wear a joyous flush to-day, and +whose eyes, grown faded through long suffering, beam once more with +something of the brightness and hopefulness of youth. It is to this +woman that he wants to show himself in his covering of flowers. +Heretofore, she has worn a crown of thorns; now he wants to show her +the promising future he has won for himself and her. But she sees him +from a distance only. When the good, honesty yellow-leather-colored +face, with its black imperial, rides by, close to the house, her eyes +are so bedimmed by tears that she only sees, as if through a veil, how +he lowers his sword to her in salute, and bows slightly with his +garlanded helmet. The wreath which she has held ready for him falls +from her trembling hand over the railing upon the heads of the densely +packed crowd below. But they seem to know for whom it is intended. In a +second twenty hands have helped to pass it along to him, and now it is +handed up to the rider, who lets all the others slide off his sword so +that this one alone shall be wound about it. + +Not far behind this brave soldier rides another, upon whom, likewise, +the eyes of the women and girls in the windows gaze with pleasure, +though he is a stranger to them all, and, for his part, very rarely +lets his dark eyes rest on any of these blooming faces. For who is +there here whom he cares to seek? And whose face would he be glad to +see unexpectedly? It was only with great reluctance and in order not to +offend Schnetz, who asked it of him as a particular proof of +friendship, that he finally consented to take part in the entrance of +the troops, and to visit once more the city which had so many bitter +associations for him. These last two years--what a different man they +had made of him! And yet--although he was firmly convinced that the +source of every joy was dried up in his innermost heart, and that +henceforth nothing was left to him but a barren satisfaction at duties +conscientiously fulfilled--even he could not altogether escape the +festal mood of this marvelous hour. His handsome face, made bolder and +keener by the hardships of war, lost the sad, hard expression which had +never been absent from it during the whole year; a bright +determination, a quiet earnestness, beamed from his eyes. As he rode +through the triumphal avenue strewn with flowers, amid the chime of +bells and the wildest shouts of joy, he lost the consciousness of his +own hopeless lot, and became merged, as it were, in the great, +pervading spirit of a unique and sublime festival, which would never +come again; and to take part in which, with the Iron Cross on his +breast, and honorable, scarcely healed wounds underneath, was a +privilege which might well be thought to compensate for all the lost +bliss of a young life. + +After the entrance ceremonies were over, he wended his way toward the +garden on the Dultplatz, where he thought there would be the least +danger, to-day, of meeting any one of his acquaintances. Here, +surrounded on all sides by the country-folk who had streamed into the +city in great crowds, he sat in the shade of the ash-trees and, like a +dream, the events of the last two years passed in review before him; +from that first Sunday afternoon when he dined here with Jansen and his +new friends, down to the present moment, when he sat in the crowd +solitary and alone, sought by no friendly eye, and merely stared at as +one of that great host which had done honor to its fatherland. + +The crowd in the garden had already begun to thin out a little when +Schnetz touched the dreamer on the shoulder. He did not speak a word +about the meeting he had just had with his wife; but such an unwonted +joyousness could be detected in his voice and bearing that for the +first time Felix began to feel a quiet envy of this happy man, who had +been expected and welcomed by some one whom he loved. He, for his part, +would have greatly preferred to leave the town again before night; for +after the first glow of enthusiasm was over, his spirits had once more +become so gloomy that he would have given a great deal to escape from +the festivities of the evening. But he had promised Schnetz a whole +day, and he had too often been under obligations to his friend, in the +hard days of trial that winter, not to grant him this small favor. + +"Of course I will let you off from all ceremonial visits," said his +friend, as they left the garden arm-in-arm. "But we really must go and +pay our respects to the invalids, and afterward shake hands with Fat +Rossel. He would never forgive you if you didn't think it worth while +to congratulate him in his new state; and, besides, it is all up with +your _incognito_. At the window from which our friend Rossel viewed the +spectacle sat another individual, who once upon a time took a great +fancy to your worthy self, and who, notwithstanding the fact that her +grandpapa and husband stood behind her, gave vent to her patriotic +enthusiasm in the most unrestrained manner possible, throwing all the +flowers in her basket at you at one go. But, of course you, like Hans +the Dreamer, rode past your happiness all unconscious of it." + +"What, Red Zenz? And she recognized me?" + +"In spite of your uniform and short-cropped hair. But you must accustom +yourself to a more respectful way of speaking of her. One speaks now of +Frau Crescentia Rossel, _née_ Schoepf. They wrote me about this affair +a good while ago; but as you refused, once for all, to listen to any +news about Munich matters, I kept this event from you also. It must +have come about curiously enough, and quite after the manner of the +creature as she was then--I mean, before she had been tamed by the yoke +of wedlock. You know--or don't you know yet?--that Rossel lost his +whole fortune some time ago. He had invested it with his brother, who +was at the head of a mercantile firm in the Palatinate, carrying on a +brisk trade with France. This brother became a bankrupt in consequence +of the war, and our Fat Rossel would have become a miserably poor devil +overnight if he had not owned the house in the city and the villa out +there on the lake. He immediately sold the house with all its +appurtenances, of course at a low enough figure, for no one had much +money to spare in war time. But for all that it was such a good round +sum, that the interest from it just succeeded in keeping his head above +water, though he could no longer live like a _grand seigneur_. A +purchaser might also have been found for the villa; but in order not to +disturb our good Kohle, who was in the very midst of his Venus +frescoes, he resisted the temptation, and--who would have thought +it?--aroused himself from his bear-skin to take up his brush again, +though, to be sure, with much grumbling and cursing. This act of +heroism seems to have melted, for the first time, the armor of ice in +which the heart of the little red coquette was encased; particularly as +he did not for a moment bemoan the loss of the property on his own +account, but only expressed the deepest sympathy for his brother. +To be brief, as he perceptibly pined away under all this, partly from +love-sickness, partly because he had been obliged to dispense with +the services of his all-too-sumptuous cook, this singular creature +was touched with pity for his troubles, appeared one day in the +scantily-furnished lodgings with which the former Sardanapalus was now +forced to content himself, and announced to him, without any further +ceremony, that she had been thinking the matter over, and was willing +to marry him. She felt, to be sure, not a spark of sentimental love for +him--such a love as that she had experienced but once in her life, and +then it had gone badly with her--but she no longer felt any aversion +toward him, and since he needed a wife who understood something about +housekeeping, he had better go and make inquiries whether there wasn't +another room and a kitchen to be had on the same floor, in which case +they could go on living there. + +"And they say the arrangement has really worked very well so far. Of +course old Schoepf has gone to live with them; and Uncle Kohle, who, in +the mean while, has refused the hand of Aunt Babette, and has quietly +gone on painting his Venus allegories in spite of Sedan and Paris, also +sleeps and takes his meals there; and Rossel paints one glorious +picture after another, protesting all the while, they say, against this +useless expenditure of strength, and longing for the time when he can +finally settle down to rest. I have my private suspicions, however, +that, in spite of all this talk, he is more contented with his present +life, even leaving his marital joys out of the question, than with the +barren seeds of thought which he, lying idly on his back, once +scattered to all the winds of heaven." + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + +In the mean while they had passed through the city, which was +richly decked out with flags, wreaths and mottoes, while crowds of +joyfully-excited people surged up and down the streets--and had arrived +at the English garden. + +"Where are you taking me to?" asked Felix. "There is no hospital within +twenty miles of here, unless they have been turning the Chinese tower +into one." + +"Come along," answered Schnetz. "You'll soon get things straight. The +queen-dowager selected the place herself, and no doubt many a poor +fellow will make true the saying: '_hodie eris mecum in Paradiso_.'" + +"In the Paradise garden? _In our Paradise?_ The boldest imagination +among us all could never have dreamed of such a thing as our meeting +there again under such different circumstances." + +"_Sic transit!_--And besides, our friends are, fortunately, much too +lively a pair of birds of paradise not to fly away again some fine +day." + +When they reached the garden gate, they saw that all the benches under +the trees were empty, although in all the other beer-gardens they had +passed the people sat packed close together. An inscription indicated +the different use to which the house was now devoted, and the few +grave-looking people who met them--among the rest women with eyes red +from weeping, leading little children by the hand, and further back in +the garden the pale, tottering figures of convalescents--formed a sharp +contrast to the noisy, merry crowd that was generally to be found here +on holidays. The two friends walked thoughtfully round to the other +side of the house, and, being in uniform, had no difficulty in +obtaining admittance. + +They had made the rounds of many a hospital-ward within the last year, +and had seen the after-effects of the war in much more horrible +pictures than any that clean, quiet rooms could offer them. + +And yet now, when they beheld once more the halls which they had left +in the blaze of the carnival time, robbed of all their ornaments, +and the sisters of charity moving softly up and down the long row of +sick-beds, soothing a moan of pain here and mixing a cooling drink +there; and the grotesque frescoes on the bare walls no longer concealed +by tall plants; and outside the window the pure sunlight shimmering +through the green treetops, instead of the midnight stars looking in +upon a merry feast--such mingled feelings came over them that neither +could utter a word. + +They started to look for their friends. But strange faces only looked +up at them from their beds of pain. Finally, a young doctor gave them +the desired information. + +The halls down below here were already full when the two gentlemen had +been brought in. So they had willingly acceded to their request to have +a room to themselves, and had quartered them in the top story. He +offered to guide them up there himself; but this Schnetz gratefully +declined, not wishing to take him away from his patients. + +So they mounted to the corridor of the top story, and at the very first +door which they came to they heard a voice from the room within that +caused them to start. It was a soft, girlish voice reading something +aloud--verses, as it seemed. + +"It isn't likely they are in here," muttered Schnetz, "unless they have +been seized with a pious fit, and have consented to let a sister of +charity come in and edify them with her hymn-book. Well, there have +been instances.--But no, this hymn-book has never seen the inside of a +church, at all events." + +They listened, and distinctly heard the lines. + +"'Holy Maid of Orleans, pray for us!'" cried Schnetz. "I must be +greatly mistaken in my man, if Elfinger isn't found somewhere near when +Schiller is being spouted." + +Without stopping to knock, he softly opened the door, and entered with +Felix. + +It was a high but not a very large room, whose only window opened on +the rear of the garden. Only a single ray of the afternoon sunshine +streamed through the gray blind and fell upon one of the beds that +stood near the wall on the right; while the other cot, opposite it, was +surrounded by a high Spanish screen, and was pushed back so as to be +entirely in the shade. + +On the bed to the right lay Rosenbusch, covered over with a thin +blanket, the upper part of his body propped up into a half-sitting +posture by pillows, holding a sketchbook on his knees and busily +engaged in drawing. + +Except that his face was somewhat paler, he showed no traces of the +hardships he had suffered; but on the contrary, his bright eyes beamed +from under a red fez as merrily, and he looked as fresh as he lay there +in his loose jacket, with his carefully-tended beard, as though he had +made his toilet for the express purpose of receiving visits. + +"I could have told you so!" he cried to his friends, as they entered +(the reader who sat behind the screen was silent in an instant)--"the +first visit of the saviours of the fatherland, on this day of triumph, +is to the invalid's paradise. God greet you, noble souls! You find us +here as well provided for as if we were in the lap of Abraham; art, +poetry, and love, make our life beautiful, and the fare is ample; +though, unfortunately, we are on invalids' diet. No, you mustn't look +at what I am scribbling. Or rather, for all I care, you may look at the +thing as much as you like. A Rosenbusch, _seconda maniera_, or _terza_ +rather, if I count in my classical period, my parting of Hector and +Iphigenia _à la_ David. Now, as you see, we are splashing about in +realism of the most modern sort--Father Wouverman will turn in his +grave, but I can't help that. And, after all, this pack of Turcos and +Zouaves are by no means to be despised. Magnificent contrasts of +color, set off by the vineyard scenery, and our own blue devils over +there--like a thunder-cloud. By Jove! it won't look bad, will it? Do +you know what the secret of modern battle-painting is, the clew to the +riddle, to find which I had first to have a hole shot in my thigh? The +episode, my dear fellow, nothing but the episode. Grouping in masses, +tricks of tactics--nonsense, a map would do just as well for that +purpose. But to condense in an episode the prevailing character of a +whole battle--that is the point. Those old fellows had an easy time of +it, for in those days a great, murderous battle was nothing but a +handful of episodes. Well, every man must accommodate himself to the +length of his blanket." + +"Tours is long enough to keep you warm, old comrade-in-arms," replied +Schnetz, examining the ingenious sketch with great pleasure. "But how +goes it with your bodily progress?" + +"Thanks. Fairly. In six or eight weeks I hope to prove myself quite a +lively dancer at my own wedding. I only wish," he added, in a lower +voice, with a slight movement of the head toward the other bed--"that +our friend over opposite had such bright prospects--" + +"Herr von Schnetz!" they now heard Elfinger's sonorous voice say from +behind the screen--"You seem to have completely forgotten that there +are other people living on the other side of the mountain. Whom have +you brought with you? To judge from the step it is our brave baron. +Won't the gentlemen be so kind as to do a poor blind man the honor? You +will find some one else here who will be very glad to welcome my old +friends again." + +At the first sound of these cheerful words, which moved him painfully, +Schnetz had stepped behind the screen and seized the hands the sick man +gropingly held out to him. Felix, too, approached. Elfinger could not +raise his head from the pillow on account of the ice compress that was +laid across both eyes, but the pale, finely-formed face beneath it lit +up with such a joyful smile, that the two friends were so moved they +could hardly stammer out the necessary words of greeting. + +A slim young figure had risen from the chair at the head of the bed to +make room for the gentlemen. She still held in her hand the book from +which she had been reading, and her delicate face blushed when Schnetz +turned and cordially pressed her hand. + +"I need not introduce you to one another," said Elfinger. "Baron Felix, +too, will probably recollect my little Fanny, from having met her at +that memorable boating party. In those days we two were not so well +acquainted with one another as we are now, for, as you know, 'it must +be dark for Friedland's stars to shine.' I still had one eye too many. +It is only since I have been left quite in the darkness that she has +clearly seen that her heavenly bridegroom would not be angry with her +for being unfaithful to him in order to light a poor blind cripple +through life. Isn't it so, sweetheart?" + +"Don't boast in such a godless way," they heard Rosenbusch call out, +"as if it were on your account, _pour tes beaux yeux_, as messieurs our +hereditary enemies say, that she became converted and joined our +society. Nonsense! Fräulein Fanny, it is simply because you have to do +penance for your faithless sister, and redeem the honor of the Munich +women." + +"Be quiet over there, most fickle of mortals," cried Elfinger; "or I'll +complain of you to Angelica. You must know they take turns in nursing +us, these two good angels; and although that frivolous man opposite +ought to thank God that such an excellent woman has finally received +him into grace, he is perpetually making love to my sweetheart over the +screen. Fortunately, I have, once and for all, said good-by to +jealousy, which would certainly be ridiculous enough in a blind man--" + +"I hope you exaggerate, Elfinger," interrupted Felix; "when we took +leave of one another in Versailles the doctor gave us great reason to +hope--" + +"The way was a trifle long, and the snow-storm that welcomed us home to +our fatherland--pshaw! If it is so, and I only have enough twilight +left for me to recognize the outlines of a certain face when it is +close to mine, I will be happy. But even if this is no longer possible, +ought I not to count my lot fortunate? 'I had it once--I tell you I can +recall all the faces I loved as distinctly as if I had a pair of +perfect eyes in my head--" he felt for the hand of the blushing girl +and pressed it to his lips. "And now," he said, "enough about my +respected self. Since we last saw one another the most wonderful events +have come to pass. The German empire and the German emperor! Good God, +we praise Thee! Do you know, since all this happened I have begun to +have some hope for the German stage again?" + +"At all events, your colleagues have learned how to play the _rôle_ of +heroes respectably well, without opening their mouths wide, rolling +their eyes, and sawing the air with their arms and legs." + +"No, but seriously, do you remember our first conversation on this +subject, my dear baron? Now just see whether I haven't cause for hope. +Our want of unity was chiefly to blame for the wretched state of our +stage. Imagine thirty-six court-theatres fighting with one another for +the few actors who really have talent. Now, my idea is that, when they +have become a little sick of military spectacles up there in the +imperial capital, they will arrive at the conclusion that a great +nation also needs a national theatre; not one in name, but one which +shall really unite all the best talents. A model manager, a model +repertoire, and model performances, not given oftener than, at the +most, two days running; and not with one eye on Melpomene and Thalia, +and the other on the cash-box, so that a miserable clap-trap piece will +be allowed to remain on the desecrated boards thirty consecutive +nights, merely because a few actresses change their dresses seven times +in the course of the performance. Only the very choicest pieces must be +selected, from the classical and modern stock, and the parts must be +filled only by the strongest actors. All real talent must be engaged at +any price, though there should be three Franz Moors and Ophelias +playing against one another at the same time; and the whole must be +emancipated from all court influence, and regarded as an imperial +affair under the charge of the Minister of Culture, who should be +responsible to the nation. What do you say to such a stage?" + +"That it will continue to be too fine for this world for some time to +come," answered Schnetz. "But who knows? Even this world can improve; +we have seen how it has done in other fields. I only fear that, even +under the most favorable circumstances, the other Germans will +respectfully decline to give money, _in majorem imperii gloriam_, for a +theatre of which the Berliners alone will reap the benefit." + +"Naturally," cried Elfinger, gesticulating excitedly; "and they would +have a perfect right to do so. For that very reason my plan is to make +this model stage accessible to all the empire. What else do we have +railroads for, and the gala-performances that have been attempted here +and there? All that is necessary is that it should be made a regular +institution. Six winter months in Berlin, a month's vacation, four +months' of triumphal progress of the imperial actors through all the +cities of Germany in which a worthy temple of the muses can be found, +then another month of rest, and so on with grace _in infinitum_. Don't +say a word against it! The thing has its difficulties, but, when we +shall have gotten our theatrical Bismarck, you will see how well it +will work, and then everybody will wonder why it was not thought of +long before. Isn't it natural that the talent for impersonation should +also grow richer among a people who have finally won self-respect, who +have learned how to walk, and to stand, and to talk as well as the rest +of the world? I--of course, I have retired from the scene. But, +nevertheless, I can work for it. I will give instruction in +declamation; I will open the minds of the young actors; I will show +them how to recite verses and bring style into their prose--you know +rhapsodists always have been blind from time immemorial--and with the +aid of my little wife here, and of my tremendous memory--" + +At this moment the young doctor came in. He had heard Elfinger's +earnest speech outside in the corridor, and came to warn him not to +over-excite himself. His friends took leave at once. + +"I hope you won't leave Munich without having seen Angelica again," +said Rosenbusch. Felix, though he would greatly have preferred not to +look up any one else, had to promise that he would call on her. He did +not notice the peculiarly sly look which the painter bestowed upon +Schnetz. Still, although he believed he should not see these two good +friends again, he left them with a comforted feeling. He knew that +each, after his own fashion, had attained the goal of all his wishes. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + +Outside, they were swallowed up again in the roaring and surging human +stream, and borne toward the city. The old countess drove past them in +a very elegant open carriage, her daughter by her side, and her son +and son-in-law on the back seat, both in uniform and decorated with +medals of honor. The happy old woman, who was taking the fresh glories +of her family out for a ride, and gazing around her with proud eyes, +recognized Schnetz immediately, and nodded to him with amiable +familiarity. She looked at his companion through her eye-glass, but did +not appear to know him. + +"Brave youngsters," muttered Schnetz. "Whatever else you may say of +them, they certainly fought well. But now let's take a drosky. Of +course, our young husband lives outside there where the last houses +are." + +As they drew up before Rossel's quarters--a plain little house in +the Schwanthalerstrasse--they caught sight of a woman's head at the +flower-framed window above; but it was instantly drawn in again. + +"Madame is at home," said Schnetz, with a smile. "Of course, she has +been expecting your visit, and has probably arrayed herself in great +style. Hold on tight to your heart, _triumphator_!" + +Upon arriving up-stairs, they were not received by the lady of the +house herself, as he had expected, but by a servant-girl, who conducted +them into the studio. In comparison with the luxuriously-furnished +room in which their friend used to recline on his picturesque +bear-skin in his own house, this one was very scantily decorated. +There were no costly Gobelin tapestries, beautiful bronze vases, +and brilliantly-polished pieces of furniture in the style of the +Renaissance. But on some of the easels stood pictures in various stages +of completion, and the artist himself advanced to meet them, in his +shirt-sleeves and with his palette on his arm. + +"So here you are again!" he cried. "Now thanks be to all the gods that +you have come back with sound limbs and unscratched faces! You have a +fine piece of work behind you. Nor have we stay-at-homes been lazy in +the mean while; and though not fighting for emperor and empire, we can +at least say of ourselves that we have been working _pour le roi de +Prusse_. But it makes no odds, let us hope for better times; in the +mean while I am trying to drive away the blues with this daubing. For +Heaven's sake, don't look at the things; they are wretched efforts, +merely made in order to try my brush again. For that matter, you +mustn't look about you here at all--_quantum mutatus ab illo!_ Of all +my household goods, I have retained nothing but my Boecklin; a thing of +that sort is like a tuning-fork when one has lost the key-note. Neither +must you inspect me too closely. I am reduced, my dear fellows, very +much reduced. You see I have shrunken to unnatural proportions; what +has become of my rounded form? But, what could be expected when a man +gets to work by eight o'clock every day, and so violates his holiest +principles? But wait, I will go and call my wife. She is the thing best +worth seeing in the whole house." + +He made his friends sit down on a small leather sofa that bore little +resemblance to the celebrated "West-easterly" divan of former days, +and ran out calling for his wife. In the mean while, they had time to +look around. So much that was excellent met their view on all the +canvases--such clearness, and simplicity in form and color--that they +were moved to sincere enthusiasm, and eagerly expressed their delight +to one another. + +"You are too good," Rossel's voice rang out behind them. "It is +possibly true that, in the course of time, I have become a passably +good colorist. It isn't for nothing that a man refrains from his own +sins for ten years, and has no other thoughts than to get at the +secrets of the great. But so long as no one cares a rap about it, it +remains a barren, private delight, and finally withers like a plant in +a cellar. Who cares, nowadays, whether human flesh like this looks +fresh, or as if it had been tanned? The subject, the idea, and now, to +cap the climax, the patriotic sentiment--no offense, my heroes! Even in +that way we can drag ourselves out of the slough; of course, upon +condition that we give that nixie there a petticoat, and provide that +fisher-boy with a pair of swimming-trousers at the very least." + +"Amid all these profound remarks we have wandered from the main point +again," said Schnetz. "Where is your wife?" + +"She asks to be excused--says she is engaged--and won't show herself at +any price. I told her to her face it was only on account of the Herr +Baron. 'Of course,' she answered, 'I wouldn't mind the first-lieutenant +at all.' Oh, my dear friends, if I only were not so hen-pecked! But I +can assure you, much as I have always raved about women without brains, +I now see clearly that they are the very ones who know how to succeed +in having their own way. However, in the present case, it has turned +out to my advantage. For no matter how free from prejudices one may be, +he can't help making a wry face when he sees his wife blush slightly in +saying good-day to her first and only love. Won't you come and dine +with me to-morrow? Little, but cordially offered--_un piatto di +maccheroni, una brava bistecca, un fiasco di vino sincero_. I think the +lady of the house will make her appearance too--" + +Felix excused himself by saying that he was to leave on the following +day. Old Schoepf now entered, looking a little more dried up than +of yore, and with his dark face almost completely covered by his +snow-white hair and beard. He was in the best of spirits, and inquired +eagerly about the campaign experiences of his friends. When the +conversation turned upon Kohle, the old man declared that they must +certainly go out and visit him at the villa, to see the frescoes he had +already finished. He had only allowed himself a half-holiday, and had +hurried back again as soon as the entrance of the troops was over, to +add the last touches to the paneling. When Felix had to decline this +invitation likewise, the old gentleman bestowed a look of questioning +surprise upon his grandson-in-law; but he refrained from pressing the +young man any further, who acted as though the ground of Munich burned +under his feet. + +Felix was obliged to tell his friends about the position that awaited +him in Metz. On more than one occasion he had attracted attention at +headquarters, and his judgment and energy, the fact that he was +acquainted with the French language, and, perhaps, the wish to have +some one who was not a Prussian connected with the administration of +the conquered province, had united in causing him to be made aide to +the new governor of the frontier fortress. To carry out properly a task +which combined such difficult and untried elements, fresh minds were +required--such as had not merely acquired experience under existing +well-regulated forms of government, but such as had been schooled in +real life, and, fitted with the necessary mental quickness, were also +equipped for unforeseen contingencies. + +The grave face of our young Baron lighted up a little as he spoke of +the life of activity before him. But an expression of settled +resignation could be detected in every word he spoke. The others, +however, apparently paid no attention to this; and, as he went +down-stairs, Rossel shouted "_Au revoir!_" after him, just as in the +old times when they were certain of meeting again within a few days. + +As they stepped into the street, Felix heard his name called from one +of the windows above. He saw young Frau Rossel standing among the +evergreens, cheerfully nodding and waving her hand to him. Her delicate +coloring looked even brighter than in the old days; and a little +morning-cap, which she had coquettishly placed a little on one side on +her golden-red locks, gave her round face a most charming appearance of +housewifely dignity. + +"You are not to suppose I don't care anything more about my old +friends!" she shouted down to them. "At the entrance of the troops I +threw a whole lot of flowers at you; and you, proud sir, didn't deign +to look up once. Well, this time, at all events, you have turned to +look at me. Your uniform doesn't become you half as well as citizen's +dress. You don't look so distinguished in it. As for me, I couldn't +think of letting you see me. But in six or eight weeks from now--you +must come to the christening--do you hear? My husband will write to you +about it. And, now, good-by, and good luck to you. I'm sure I wish it +you with all my heart. You have certainly worked hard enough to deserve +it." + +With this the laughing face disappeared from the window, without +leaving the men time to say a word in reply. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + +"And now to Angelical," said Schnetz. "You haven't far to go, and she is +certain to be at home." + +Felix stood still. + +"Let me off from this visit," he said, his face suddenly darkening. +"Help me think of some excuse, so that I shan't offend the good girl. +You know how much I esteem her; but she is the only person who, I have +reason to believe, knows all. The others may have been satisfied with +that fiction about the duel; but she, Julie's best friend--" + +"No matter what she knows or doesn't know--nonsense! You can be as +brief as you want. Come, give me your hand on it. Good! And there's her +house there. I will say adieu to you here; I have some business to +attend to; and I will call for you this evening at the hotel, and we'll +go and see the illumination together." + +"They are all so kind!" cried Felix, when he was alone; "they all want +to help me to bear what is bitter and irremediable. But it is high time +for me to try a change of air. Here--where they are all going to lead +such happy and comfortable lives, and where every one breathes more +freely and more healthily now that the storm of war has swept away the +old mists and fogs--for me alone to go about with such a face among +these good, contented people--no! I must go away from here, and the +sooner the better. If I leave this evening, travel all night--to-morrow +I can be deep in my work. I will beg Angelica to excuse me to Schnetz. +She will be the first to understand that I am in no mood for +illuminations." + +He had no sooner formed this resolution than he drew a long breath, and +hastened his steps toward the house which Schnetz had pointed out to +him. The gloaming had already come, and the first candles of the +illumination were glowing in a few of the windows; but those at +Angelica's house were dark. Up-stairs the door was opened for him by +the old landlady, of whom Angelica hired her lodgings. The Fräulein was +at home, she said, pointing to the nearest door. He knocked with a +beating heart, of which he felt fairly ashamed. A woman's voice called +out "Come in." As he entered the dusky room, a slender figure rose from +the sofa, on which it had had been idly sitting as if waiting for him. +"Is it permitted me to come so late, my dear friend?" he said, +advancing hesitatingly. The figure tottered forward to meet him, and +now for the first time he recognized the features of the face--"Irene! +Good God!" he cried, and involuntarily stood still; but the next moment +he felt two arms encircling him, and burning lips pressed to his own, +stifling every word and plunging his senses into a whirl of delirious +joy. It was as if she wanted never to let him recover his speech again; +as if she feared he might vanish from her arms forever, the moment she +let him go. Even when she finally removed her lips from his and drew +him, bewildered and trembling, upon the sofa at her side, she went on +talking alone, as if any word that he might throw in would destroy the +spell that had at last led the loved one to her side again. He had +never seen her thus before; the last bar had fallen from her virgin +heart; and a yielding woman, laughing and weeping in the sweetness of +passion, lay upon his breast, with her arms around his neck. + +Not a word was said about that which had kept him from her so long. It +was as if the war had called him from her side, and now at last he had +returned and all would be well again, and far more beautiful than it +could ever have been without his youthful heroism and his honorable +scars. He had to listen to many tender complaints and reproaches for +not having given her any news about himself in all this time. But the +moment he tried to say a word in his own defense, she closed his lips +with impassioned kisses. + +"Be still!" she cried. "It is true you are a great sinner, my darling +hero, but I--what wouldn't I forgive you on this day, this glorious day +of festival and joy! And, you see, it did not help you any after all. +You imagined you were safe from me, and thought you could march in here +with the rest without any one's being the wiser, while I sat and sulked +in my old-maid's cell on the Lung' Arno. But this is the time of +miracles! I cast aside my pride of birth, and all the good training I +owe to myself, as if they had been old rags, and went to uncle and said +to him: 'If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to +the mountain. That wicked Felix would like to be rid of me; but it +takes two to do that. Come, uncle, let us go to Munich. I must see my +lover ride in through the gate of victory, Schnetz writes that he looks +nobly in his uniform, and I can't help it even if the old countess +doesn't think it proper for me to run after this faithless man. He ran +after me long enough, and we ought to exchange _rôles_ for once.' And +so here I am, and have been sitting here on the very same spot for +three hours, waiting for a certain youthful hero, and scolding terribly +at Schnetz, who had promised me that he would entice him into this +love-trap just as soon as he possibly could. And now it has actually +sprung upon you, and you sha'n't be let out again as long as you live." + +The lights in the streets outside had long been blazing in full +brilliancy, and under the windows a joyous crowd of happy people +streamed past toward the centre of the city, where the illumination was +said to be the finest. But the two happy lovers had forgotten all else +in the bliss, so long deferred, of gazing into one another's eyes and +seeing the flame of inextinguishable love and devotion glowing there. +She asked after the companions who had been with him through the war, +and he after the friends she had left behind in Florence. But neither +paid much attention to what the other answered; all they cared for was +to hear each other speak, and to assure themselves by the sound of +their voices that they were once more united. + +An hour may have passed in this way, when some one knocked softly. The +knock was repeated three times before they heard it, and Irene ran to +open the door. Angelica came flying in, the two girls fell on one +another's necks, and good Angelica's voice was so stifled by suppressed +tears that it was a long time before she could speak. + +"Of course I have come too soon," she said at last; "but when +wouldn't it have been too soon? A thousand congratulations, my dear +Felix--pardon me, the Herr Baron doesn't come glibly to me to-day--and +now, make haste, so as to see a little of the illumination--it is +magnificent--we have just come from it, and Irene certainly didn't +travel five hundred miles just to sit here in the dark while all Munich +swims in a sea of light. Besides, she saw very little of the review +this morning, for she only had eyes for a single defender of the +Fatherland. You will have seen all you want to in half an hour, and +then I invite the ladies and gentlemen to assemble once more under my +humble roof and partake of a modest cup of tea. Schnetz will also +appear, and your uncle, the baron, has solemnly pledged me his word not +to let himself be dragged into any champagne-supper to-day. It's a pity +Rosenbusch isn't well enough yet! The poor fellow has only a lame leg, +and an elderly girl as a wife, as a reward for all his bravery. But +don't you think he bears his lot with incredible fortitude?" + +The lights of the festival had long been extinguished, and the last +joyous echo of this happy day had died out, when Felix entered the +little room, which was the only one still to be had in the whole great +hotel. Even now he could not think of such a thing as sleep. He sat +down on the bed and drew from his pocket a letter which Irene had given +him when he parted from her before her hotel, and gazed--with what +overmastering emotion!--upon the handwriting of the friend whom he had +believed to be lost to him forever, and whom this day restored to him +again, to add to all its other unexpected blessings. He read the +following lines: + + +"Let this letter bear you our congratulations, dear old friend. When it +comes into your hands the last shadow will have been lifted from your +life. You will hear enough about us from the lips of your beloved, to +satisfy you of our happiness. But, possibly, there may be one subject +concerning which she may feel a delicacy about speaking; our happiness +is now secure from all external interruption. A few weeks ago a legal +divorce was effected, and our union, which certainly stood in no need +of a certificate to cement it closer, has now, for the children's sake, +received the sanction of the law. The unhappy woman herself lent a hand +in bringing this about. She is in Athens, where a rich Englishman has +been paying his court to her. The last spark of ill-will toward her has +been extinguished in me. I can think of her as of one dead. May she +find peace in the sphere she has voluntarily chosen--as far as such a +being ever can find or bear peace. + +"And now let us at least hear from you again, my dear old boy. All we +have heard about you has rejoiced our hearts. You are about to enter +upon a new phase of life, and to put in order that part of the world +which has been assigned to you. I wish you all success. After all, it +is your proper calling; and if the wise saying of our friend Rossel is +correct, that real happiness is merely that condition in which we are +most keenly conscious of our individuality, you certainly must be +esteemed happy, and will make happy the noble heart that has +surrendered to you. Dear old fellow, what a splendid prize each of us +has drawn! That we had to work hard to deserve it, is all the better. +All that is not deserved humiliates. And we still have an excess of +happiness given us by the gods, whom we ought not to be too proud to +thank. + +"But here I am talking about our own fates, and passing by, without a +single word, the great and mighty event in the world's history which +has just been concluded. Though, to be sure, there are no words capable +of expressing its greatness and importance. In the consciousness of +this dumb amazement the feeling can scarcely be avoided that the Muses, +who are usually silent mid the clash of arms, will not recover their +voices very soon. You men of action have the lead for some time to +come; for the revolution that has taken place in the public mind, and +the movement which has extended to all conditions of life and of civil +society, is far more wonderful, far more pregnant with consequences +than you, who took an active part in it, can appreciate in the first +pause after your final blows. We who are lookers-on are in a position +to get a more comprehensive view, for we can also see how the recoil, +of whose force you can have no conception, acts upon our neighbors. + +"The truth is, this is a period of reconstruction of all political and +social conditions; whatever is essential asserts itself, and whatever +is _real_ clamors everywhere for the place that belongs to it by +nature. Consequently, those who are called upon to rearrange our new +life have the first and last word; while those who, like us artists, +have to do with dreams, stand aloof and thank fortune if their names +are still mentioned now and then. You know that, with all due respect +for politics, I cannot regard them as belonging to the highest problems +of the human mind. The possible and the useful, the expedient and the +necessary are, and must ever be, relative aims; it should be the task +of the statesman to make himself less and less necessary, to educate +the public sense of justice so that the greatest possible number of +free individuals can live in harmony with one another; and each, alone +or in conjunction with some fellow-workman, can occupy himself with the +eternal problems. Shall we live to see the time when the arts which +have heretofore flourished like wild flowers upon ruins, shall adorn +the symmetrical, inhabited, and solid walls of the new structure of the +state with their foliage of undying green? Who can say? Mankind lives +quickly in these days. In the mean while let each one do his best. + +"Farewell, and make up your mind to _live_, and to let your fellow-men +_know_ that you live. I wish you could all--dear, good, and faithful +friends--wrap yourselves in the mantle of Faust and be set down among +us at this very moment. I am writing this letter in a villa on the +slope of the splendid hill that bears upon its summit old Fiesole. +Julie is walking up and down the garden carrying our _Bimba_ in her +arms, while little Frances walks by her side, busily studying her +lesson. How beautiful the world is all around me! And with what still, +pure, silent joy do I think of you, dear friends! Come and give us a +sight of your happiness, and rejoice with us in ours! + +"And then we will make the old 'Paradise' to live again under another +heaven and on a new soil." + + + + THE END. + + + + + + REMORSE. + + From the French of TH. BENTZON. + + (_Forming Number_ 13 _of the "Collection of Foreign Authors._") + + 16mo. Paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + + * * * * * + + _From Lippincott's Magazine_. + +"'Remorse,' which appeared recently in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, is +a novel of great power. The author, who writes under the name of 'Th. +Bentzon,' is Madame Blanc, a woman of great intelligence and the +highest character." + + + _From the New York Sun_. + +"The story entitled 'Remorse' attracted much attention from the grace +and vivacity of its style, and from the singular vigor evinced in the +portrait of a literary personage whose successive love-affairs were +turned to the account of his poetry and novel-writing. The essential +shallowness and meanness of such a nature are strikingly contrasted +with the earnest and genuine character of the heroine, and the elements +of a tragical situation are evolved with much ingenuity out of this +antithesis. There is in these figures a certain crispness and +vividness, as if the author had studied their counterparts In real +life." + + + _From the New York Graphic_. + +"Told with such grace and delicacy as to render it intensely +interesting. It belongs to the best class of modern French fiction, +which embraces the finest representatives of literary taste and skill." + + + _From the New York Evening Post_. + +"Th. Bentzon is a novelist of no mean gifts, even in the art of apt +narration, while her handling of strong passion is at times very fine. +'Remorse' is a tale of considerable power." + + + _From the Boston Courier_. + +"'Remorse' is a book of positive grasp, and penetrates the senses with +a keen, steady point, like that of a rapier." + + + _From the Boston Gazette_. + +"'Remorse' has strong dramatic power in its plot, which is treated in a +manner that makes it interesting. It is a story of self-sacrifice +spiritedly told, and showing both thought and care in its delineation +of character. Some of the more passionate scenes are full of intensity, +and the interest is fully sustained to the end." + + + _From the Utica Morning Observer_. + +"It is sparkling and brilliant, full of that nameless element which +makes the society novels of the French so attractive and so +sensational." + + + _From the Washington National Republican_. + +"This is a highly interesting tale. It is well written; its characters +are delineated with an artistic touch; its theme is well developed, and +its incidents are of startling interest." + + * * * * * + + _D. APPLETON & CO._, 549 & 551 _Broadway, New York_. + + + + AMERICAN PAINTERS: + + _Biographical Sketches of Fifty American Artists_. + + WITH EIGHTY-THREE EXAMPLES OF THEIR WORKS, + + Engraved on Wood in a perfect manner. + + * * * * * + +Quarto; cloth, extra gilt Price, $7.00: full morocco, $13.00. + + * * * * * + + + _The painters represented in this work are as follows_: + + + CHURCH, HUNT, J. H. BEARD, + INNES, WHITTREDGE, W. H. BEARD, + HUNTINGTON, W. HART, PORTER, + PAGE, J. M. HART, G. L. BROWN, + SANFORD GIFFORD, McENTEE, APPLETON BROWN, + SWAIN GIFFORD, COLMAN, CROPSEY, + DURAND, HICKS, CASILEAR, + R. W. WEIR, WINSLOW HOMER, E. JOHNSON, + W. T. RICHARDS, DE HAAS, SHIRLAW, + T. MORAN, J. G. BROWN, CHASE, + P. MORAN, WYANT, BRICHER, + PERRY, WOOD, ROBBINS, + BELLOWS, BRISTOL, WILMARTH, + SHATTUCK, REINHART, EATON, + MILLER, BRIDGMAN, GUY, + J. F. WEIR, BIERSTADT, QUARTLEY, + HOPKINSON SMITH, MEEKER, + + * * * * * + +The publishers feel justified in saying that the contemporaneous art of +no country has ever been so adequately represented in a single volume +as our American Painters are in this work, while the engravings are +equal in execution to the finest examples of wood-engraving produced +here or abroad. + + + OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. + + * * * * * + +"The richest and in many ways the most notable of fine art books is +'American Painters,' just published, with unstinted liberality in the +making. Eighty-three examples of the work of American artists, +reproduced in the very best style of wood-engraving, and printed +with rare skill, constitute the chief purpose of the book; while +the text which accompanies them, the work of Mr. George W. Sheldon, +is a series of bright and entertaining biographical sketches of +the artists, with a running commentary--critical, but not too +critical--upon the peculiarities of their several methods, purposes, +and conceptions."--_New York Evening Post_. + +"The volume gives good evidence of the progress of American art. It +shows that we have deft hands and imaginative brains among painters of +the country, and it shows, moreover, that we have publishers who are +liberal and cultured enough to present their works in a handsome and +luxurious form that will make them acceptable. 'American Painters' will +adorn the table of many a drawing-room where art is loved, and where it +is made still dearer from the fact that it is native."--_New York +Express_. + +"It is at once a biographical dictionary of artists, a gallery of pen +portraits and of beautiful scenes, sketched by the painters and +multiplied by the engraver. It is in all respects a work of art, and +will meet the wants of a large class whose tastes are in that +direction."--_New York Observer_. + +"One of the most delightful volumes issued from the press of this +country."--_New York Daily Graphic_. + +"Outside and inside it is a thing of beauty. The text is in large, +clear type, the paper is of the finest, the margins broad, and the +illustrations printed with artistic care. The volume contains brief +sketches of fifty prominent American artists, with examples from their +works. Some idea of the time and labor expended in bringing out the +work may be gathered from the fact that to bring it before the public +in its present form cost the publishers over $12,000."--_Boston Evening +Transcript_. + +"This book is a notable one, and among the many fine art books it will +rank as one of the choicest, and one of the most elegant, considered as +an ornament or parlor decoration. The engravings are in the highest +style known to art. Mr. Sheldon has accompanied the illustrations with +a series of very entertaining biographical sketches. As far as +possible, he has made the artists their own interpreters, giving their +own commentaries upon art and upon their purposes in its practice +instead of his own."--_Boston Post_. + +"'American Painters' consists of biographical sketches of fifty leading +American artists, with eighty-three examples of their works, engraved +on wood with consummate skill, delicacy of touch, and appreciation +of distinctive manner. It is a gallery of contemporary American +art."--_Philadelphia Press_. + +"This work is one of surpassing interest, and of marvelous +typographical and illustrative beauty."--_Philadelphia Item_. + +"The whole undertaking is a noble one, illustrative of the best period +of American art, and as such deserves the attention and support of the +public."--_Chicago Tribune_. + + * * * * * + + D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, New York. + + + + HEALTH PRIMERS. + + EDITED BY + + J. LANGDON DOWN, M. D., F. R. C. P. + HENRY POWER, M. B., F. R. C. S. + J. MORTIMER-GRANVILLE, M. D. + JOHN TWEEDY, F. R. C. S. + +Though it is of the greatest importance that books upon health should +be in the highest degree trustworthy, it is notorious that most of the +cheap and popular kind are mere crude compilations of incompetent +persons, and are often misleading and injurious. Impressed by these +considerations, several eminent medical and scientific men of London +have combined to prepare a series of Health Primers of a character that +shall be entitled to the fullest confidence. They are to be brief, +simple, and elementary in statement, filled with substantial and useful +information suitable for the guidance of grown-up people. Each primer +will be written by a gentleman specially competent to treat his +subject, while the critical supervision of the books is in the hands of +a committee who will act as editors. + +As these little books are produced by English authors, they are +naturally based very much upon English experience, but it matters +little whence illustrations upon such subjects are drawn, because the +essential conditions of avoiding disease and preserving health are to a +great degree everywhere the same. + + VOLUMES OF THE SERIES. + + + Exercise and Training. | The Heart and its Functions. + (Illustrated.) | The Head. + Alcohol: Its Use and Abuse. | Clothing and Dress. + The House and its Surroundings. | Water. + Premature Death: Its Promotion | The Skin and its Troubles. + or Prevention. | Fatigue and Pain. + Personal Appearances in Health | The Ear and Hearing. + and Disease. 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Vol. II</title> +<meta name="Author" content="Paul Heyse"> +<meta name="Publisher" content="D. Appleton and Company"> +<meta name="Date" content="1879"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +body {margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; background-color:#FFFFFF;} + + + + +p.normal {text-indent:.25in; text-align: justify;} +p.center {text-align:center; margin-top:9pt;} + + +p.section {letter-spacing:1em; text-align:center; margin-top:24pt; margin-bottom:24pt;} +p.right {text-align:right; margin-right:10%;} + +p.continue {text-indent: 0in; margin-top:9pt;} +.text10 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:10%; margin-right:0px; font-size:90%;} +.text20 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:20%; margin-right:0px; font-size:90%;} + +.t0 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0em; margin-right:0px;} +.t1 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:1em; margin-right:0px;} +.t2 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0px;} +.t3 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:3em; margin-right:0px;} +.t4 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4em; margin-right:0px;} +.t5 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:5em; margin-right:0px;} +.t6 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:6em; margin-right:0px;} +.t7 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:7em; margin-right:0px;} +.t8 {margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:8em; margin-right:0px;} + +.quote {font-size:90%; margin-top:24pt; margin-bottom:24pt} +.dateline {text-align:right; font-size:90%; margin-top:24pt; margin-bottom:24pt} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5 {text-align: center;} + +span.sc {font-variant: small-caps; font-size:100%} +.space {letter-spacing: 1em; text-align:center; margin-bottom:24pt; margin-top:24pt;} + + +hr.W10 {width:10%; margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; + color:black;} + +hr.W20 {width:20%; margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; + color:black;} + +hr.W50 {width:50%; margin-top:12pt; color:black;} +hr.W90 {width:90%; margin-top:12pt; color:black;} + +p.hang1 {margin-left:3em; text-indent:-3em;} +p.hang2 {margin-left:3em; text-indent:-3em; margin-bottom:24pt; font-size:90%; margin-top:24pt} + +.poem { + margin-top: 24pt; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + text-align: left; + margin-bottom: 24pt + } + .poem .stanza { + margin : 1em 0; + margin-top:24pt; + } + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of In Paradise, by Paul Heyse + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: In Paradise + A Novel. Vol. II + +Author: Paul Heyse + +Release Date: September 12, 2010 [EBook #33705] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN PARADISE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<p class="normal"><p class="hang1">[Transcriber's Note:<br> +1. Page scan source: +http://www.archive.org/details/inparadiseanove01heysgoog]</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>COLLECTION OF FOREIGN AUTHORS,</h2> +<br> +<h3>No. XII.</h3> + +<hr class="W20"> + +<h2>IN PARADISE.</h2> + +<h3>VOL. II.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<br> +<h2>COLLECTION OF FOREIGN AUTHORS.</h2> + + +<p class="normal"><p class="hang1">I. <i>SAMUEL BROHL AND COMPANY</i>. A Novel. From the French of Victor +Cherbuliez. 1 vol., 16mo. Paper cover, 60 cents; cloth, $1.00.</p> + +<p class="hang1">II. <i>GERARD'S MARRIAGE</i>. A Novel. From the French of André Theuriet. +Paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p class="hang1">III. <i>SPIRITE</i>. A Fantasy. From the French of Théophile Gautier. Paper +cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p class="hang1">IV. <i>THE TOWER OF PERCEMONT</i>. From the French of George Sand. Paper +cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p class="hang1">V. <i>META HOLDENIS</i>. A Novel. From the French of Victor Cherbuliez. +Paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p class="hang1">VI. <i>ROMANCES OF THE EAST</i>. From the French of Comte de Gobineau. Paper +cover, 60 cents; cloth, $1.00.</p> + +<p class="hang1">VII. <i>RENEE AND FRANZ</i> (Le Bleuet). From the French of Gustave Haller. +Paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p class="hang1">VIII. <i>MADAME GOSSELIN</i>. From the French of Louis Ulbach. Paper cover, +60 cents; cloth, $1.00.</p> + +<p class="hang1">IX. <i>THE GODSON OF A MARQUIS</i>. From the French of André Theuriet. Paper +cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p class="hang1">X. <i>ARIADNE</i>. From the French of Henry Greville. Paper cover, 50 cents; +cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p class="hang1">XI. <i>SAFAR-HADGI</i>; or, Russ and Turcoman. From the French of Prince +Lubomirski. Paper cover, 60 cents; cloth, $1.00.</p> + +<p class="hang1">XII. <i>IN PARADISE</i>. From the German of Paul Heyse. 2 vols. Per vol., +paper cover, 60 cents; doth, $1.00.</p> + +<p class="hang1">XIII. <i>REMORSE</i>. A Novel. From the French of Th. Bentzon. Paper cover, +50 cents; cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p class="hang1">XIV. <i>JEAN TETEROL'S IDEA</i>. A Novel. From the French of Victor +Cherbuliez. Paper cover, 60 cents; doth, $1.00.</p> + +<p class="hang1">XV. <i>TALES FROM THE GERMAN OF PAUL HEYSE</i>. Paper cover, 60 cents; +cloth, $1.00.</p> + +<p class="hang1">XVI. <i>THE DIARY OF A WOMAN</i>. From the French of Octave Feuillet. Paper +cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>IN</h1> +<br> +<h1>PARADISE</h1> +<br> +<h2><i>A NOVEL</i></h2> +<br> +<br> +<h3>FROM THE GERMAN OF</h3> +<h2>PAUL HEYSE</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>VOL. II</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>NEW YORK<br> +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</h2> +<h3>549 AND 551 BROADWAY<br> +1878</h3> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h4>COPYRIGHT BY</h4> +<h3>D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,<br> +1878.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>IN PARADISE.</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><i>BOOK IV</i>.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">A mile or two from Starnberg, on the shore of the beautiful lake, +stands a plain country-house, whose chief ornament is a shady and +rather wild little park of beeches and cedars. This stretches from the +highway that connects Starnberg with the castle and fishermen's huts of +Possenhofen, down to the lake--a narrow strip of woodland, separated +only by picket fences from the neighboring gardens, so that a person +wandering about in it is scarcely aware of its boundaries. The +house itself is equally small and simple, and contains, besides one +good-sized apartment, with several sleeping-rooms to the right and +left, only a turret-room in the upper story, whose great north window +shows at the first glance that it is a studio. From it can be seen, +over the tops of the cedars, a bit of the lake, and beyond it the white +houses and villas of Starnberg, at the foot of the height from +whose summit the old ducal castle--now converted into a provincial +court-house--rises like a clumsy, blunt-cornered box.</p> + +<p class="normal">Some years before, a landscape painter had built this modest summer +nest, and had made his studies of cloud and atmosphere from this turret +window. When he died, childless, his widow had made haste to offer the +property to the one among her husband's acquaintances who passed for a +Crœsus; thus it was that the villa came into the possession of +Edward Rossel, to the great surprise and amusement of all his friends. +For our Fat Rossel was known as an incorrigible and fanatical despiser +of country life, who was never tired of ridiculing the passion of the +Munichers for going into the mountains for refreshment in summer, and +who preferred, even in the hottest weather, when none of his friends +could hold out in the city any longer, to do without society altogether +rather than to give up the comforts of his city home even for a few +weeks.</p> + +<p class="normal">He maintained that this sentimental staring at a mountain or woodland +landscape, this going into ecstasies over a green meadow or a bleak +snow-field, this adoration of the rosy tints of sunrise and sunset, and +all the other species of modern nature-worship, were nothing more or +less than a disguised form of commonplace, thoughtless indolence, and +as such certainly not to be condemned, particularly by so zealous a +defender of <i>dolce far niente</i> as himself. But they must not suppose +that this particular form of idleness was the highest and worthiest of +human conditions; at the best the benefit which the mind and soul +derived from it was not greater than if one should look over a book of +pictures, or listen for hours to dance-music. Let them drivel as much +as they liked about the sublimity, beauty, and poetry of Nature, she is +and remains merely the scenery, and the stage of this world first +begins to repay the price of admission when human figures make their +appearance upon it. He did not envy the simplicity of a man who would +be willing to sit in the parquet all the evening, staring at the empty +scene, studying the woodland or mountain decorations, and listening to +the voice of the orchestra.</p> + +<p class="normal">To this the enthusiastic admirers of Nature always responded: It was +well known that his ill-will toward Nature arose from the fact that no +provision had been made for a comfortable sofa and a French cook at all +the beautiful spots. He never made the slightest attempt to defend +himself against these hits, but, on the contrary, he maintained in all +seriousness, and with much ingenuity, his argument that a thinking +being could derive more enjoyment of Nature, and a deeper insight into +the greatness and splendor of the creation, from a <i>pâte de foie gras</i> +than from watching a sunrise on the Rigi, with sleepy eyes, empty +stomach, and half-frozen limbs enveloped in a ridiculous blanket--a +melancholy victim, like his neighbors, to Alpine insanity. Whereupon he +would cite the ancient races who had never known such an exaggerated +estimate of landscape Nature, and yet, for all that, had possessed the +five senses in enviable purity and perfection, and had been very +intellectual besides. It is true, they had not known the celebrated +"Germanic sentiment;" but there was every probability that the decline +of the arts dated from the uprisal and spread of this epidemic, for +which reason it was particularly out of place for artists to favor this +sort of <i>Berghuberei</i> (as the Munichers call the country fever), with +the exception, of course, of those who get their living by it--the +landscape, animal, and peasant painters--a degenerate race of whom Fat +Rossel never spoke without drawing down the corners of his mouth.</p> + +<p class="normal">But much as he liked to disparage German sentiment, he could not find +it in his heart to refuse the widow of the landscape-painter when she +offered him the house on the lake for a price that could hardly be +called low. Without any further inspection of the place he concluded +the bargain, and, without changing a muscle, quietly suffered the +malicious laughter which burst upon him from all sides to die out. "To +possess something," he said, calmly, "was not at all the same thing as +to be possessed by something." For that reason he would not need to +join in their raving, merely because he found himself among people who +were crazy and enraptured. And, true to his theory, whenever he was at +his villa he pursued his usual comfortable sybarite life, and +maintained that Nature had very great charms if one only looked at it +with one's back.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had had the house, which was built in a rustic style, most +comfortably fitted up, with a great variety of sofas, rugs, and +easy-chairs, and always had this or that friend with him as a guest; so +that even the studio above the tree-tops, in which he himself never set +foot, was not altogether lost to its proper use. Heavenly repose, he +used to say, would not be nearly as sublime if there were not mortals +in the world to bestir themselves and cultivate the field of art with +the sweat of their brows.</p> + +<p class="normal">Now, this year he had taken his æsthetical opposite, good Philip +Emanuel Kohle, out with him; had quartered him in the chamber to the +left of the little dining-room--he himself occupying the one on the +right--and it is almost unnecessary to add, had given him the exclusive +use of the studio. For the rest, they only met at dinner and supper, +since the morning slumbers of the host lasted too long for the +industrious guest to wait breakfast for him. Moreover, they could never +come together without getting into some discussion, which was always +welcome to Rossel, and, as he asserted, highly favorable to his +digestion at any time of the day except in the morning. The more he saw +of him the more pleasure Rossel took in this singular, self-communing +man, who, bloodless, insignificant-looking, and unsophisticated as he +seemed, bore about with him a truly royal self-respect, and the +consciousness of immeasurable joys and possessions, without for a +moment demanding that any mortal being should acknowledge his inherent +sovereign rights.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then, too, though he was so unassuming and so thankful for proffered +friendship, he conducted himself toward his host with perfect freedom, +for he held the most sublime doctrines in regard to the earthly goods +that were lacking in his own case, but were so richly at the disposal +of his friend.</p> + +<p class="normal">A little veranda, with a roof supported on wooden pillars and overgrown +with wild grape-vines, had been built out into the lake. A table and a +few garden-chairs stood upon it, and from it one could look far away +over the beautiful, unruffled water and the distant mountains. At night +it was delicious to lean over the balustrade and see the moon and stars +dancing in the waves. The nights were still warm, and the scent of the +roses was wafted over from the garden; on a day like this one could sit +in the open air until midnight.</p> + +<p class="normal">Fat Rossel had seated himself in an American rocking-chair, with his +back toward the lake; a narghili stood by his side, and on the table, +in a cooler, was a bottle of Rhine wine, from which he filled his own +and his friend's glass from time to time. Kohle sat opposite him, his +elbows resting on the table, his shabby black hat pulled down over his +forehead, from beneath which his eyes gleamed fixedly and earnestly out +of the shadow like those of some night-bird. They appeared to be +magically attracted by the lines of silver that furrowed the lake, and +it was only when he spoke that he slowly raised them to the level of +his friend's high, white forehead, from which the fez was pushed back. +Rossel wore his Persian dressing gown, and his silky black beard hung +picturesquely down upon his breast. Even in the moonlight Kohle looked +very shabby in comparison with him, like a dervish by the side of an +emir. The truth was, Kohle had but one coat for all times of the day +and year.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may say what you like, my dear friend," said Fat Rossel, +concluding a rather long dispute about the difference in character +between the North and South Germans--he himself was from Passau and +Kohle from Erfurth--"there is one talent you people on the other side +of the Main are lacking in; you can swim excellently, but you can't lie +on your back and let yourself drift. Didn't I drag you put here to this +tiresome summer retreat because your aspect had become positively +unbearable to a flesh-painter, your skin having dried to a respectable +parchment, and you standing in danger of composing yourself into an +early grave? And now you don't do anything better out here; but consume +one yard of paper after another, while the shadows in your face grow +blacker from day to day. Why are you in such haste, my dear Kohle, to +produce things for which no one in the world is waiting?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Kohle's pale face never moved a muscle. He slowly drank a few drops of +wine from his glass, and then said, calmly:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Forbid the silkworm to spin!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You forget, my dear godfather, that the worm you cite as your model +has at least the excuse that it spins silk. If you could get so far as +to do that, the thing would have a practical purpose. But your +spinning--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now you are talking again against your better convictions," +interrupted the other, coolly, "There are more than enough people +nowadays who pursue their so-called art for a practical purpose. Just +listen once when our colleagues talk about their 'interests.' One would +imagine he was at the Bourse: for this picture, five thousand gulden; +for that, ten thousand, or even twenty and twenty-five thousand; and +that a certain artist has an annual income of so and so much, and owns +several houses besides--these things make up the motive power of an +incredible number of them. Their pictures have no longer a value, but +merely a price. How to go to work and make an equal amount from the +fabrication of painted canvas, that is the pivot on which all the labor +of an artist's fancy turns, instead of steering straight for the thing +itself, as it ought by rights to do. Well, I have nothing in common +with this worm that nourishes itself by crawling about in the dust. But +what does it matter to me whether I spin silk, or only a plain thread +that delights me alone, and from which I can beat my wings and soar +away into space?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are a thousand times too good for this century of banks and +bourses, my dear enthusiast!" cried Rossel, with a sigh of honest +admiration. "But, even though you despise the golden fruit on the tree +of life, still all sorts of other things flourish there, which even the +best of men need not be ashamed to find beautiful and desireable: for +instance, fame or love, upon which you also turn your back with sublime +contempt. Your life is quite as earnest as your art, and yet you know +what Schiller says. If you go on in this way a few years longer, your +flame of life will have consumed all its wick; and the magic-lantern +pictures which the light has thrown on the dark background of your +existence will go down with you into eternal night."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No!" cried the other, and his yellow face lit up with a red flush. "I +do not feel this fear! <i>Non omnis moriar!</i> Something of me will be left +behind; and though you may be right that no glory will come to me +during my life, a soft shimmer of posthumous fame will warm my bones +under the ground, of that I am certain. For better times are coming, or +else may God take pity on this wretched world, and dash it to pieces +before it becomes one vast dung-heap from which no living flower will +spring. Many a day when I have begun to lose faith, amid the +wretchedness of the present, I have repeated to myself those comforting +verses of Hölderlin's about the future of mankind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now don't bring in your Hölderlin as a bondsman for yourself," cried +Rossel. "To be sure, he was just as unpractical and as little suited to +the times as you; and, moreover, one of those erratic fellows who have +strayed out of the grand Greek and heathen worlds, and lost themselves +in our shallow present--an artist for art's sake, a dreamer and +ghost-seer in broad daylight. But for all that, he knew very well what +makes life worth living; and though he despised gold, and did not run +after fame very eagerly, he took love so seriously that he even lost +his reason over it. But you, my dear Philip Emanuel--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you so certain that I am not on the straight road to it?" Kohle +interrupted, with a peculiar, half-shy, half-bashful smile. "It is +true, neither this nor that particular beautiful woman has caused me to +tremble for the little sense I possess. But the woman and the beauty +which I, being what I am--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He broke off, and turned round in his chair, so as to present only his +profile to his friend.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't understand you, godfather."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The thing is simple enough, I have never found a beautiful woman who +claimed so little of a suitor as to be willing to take up with my +insignificant self; that is to say--for I despise alms--who could +seriously be satisfied with this drab-tinted sketch of a human figure +that bears my name. And as I am too ignorant of the art of making the +best of it, and seeking out a sweetheart who shall be suited to me in +all ways and shall bear the stamp of the same manufactory, I stand but +a poor chance so far as love is concerned. You will laugh at me, +Rossel, but, in solemn earnest, the Venus of Milo would not be +beautiful enough for me."</p> + +<p class="normal">A short pause ensued. Then Rossel said: "If I understand you rightly, I +must confess that I don't understand you at all. Besides, your estimate +of woman is quite wrong. What you want is a husband; some one who shall +show you that she is lord and master, and not a mere puppet. Put aside +both your humility and your arrogance, and pitch in whenever you +stumble upon a cheerful life. However, do just as you see fit. Who +knows but what some time the Venus of Milo herself will take pity on +you for having passed over all lesser women-folk in order to wait for +the goddess?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And what if she has already appeared to me, ay, has visited me day by +day up there above the tree-tops?" said Kohle, with a mysterious smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">He pointed with his hand toward the studio, whose window sparkled +softly in the starlight.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rossel stared at him in amazement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You fear I am on the point of breaking into a divine frenzy," laughed +the little man. "But I haven't yet confounded dreams and reality. That +I have seen her, and have learned from her all sorts of things that +other mortals do not yet know, is certain. But I believe myself that I +only dreamed all this. It was on my very first morning out here. The +evening before I had been reading the <i>Last Centaur</i>. The birds woke me +very early, and then I lay for a few hours with closed eyes, and the +whole story passed before me in a continuous train."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What story?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am now at work sketching it, after my own fashion, against which you +will protest again. There is a cyclus of six or eight pictures--shall I +tell you the story just as I am building it up in outline? It ought +properly to be told in verse, but I am no poet. Enough, the scene opens +with a mountain-cliff somewhere or other, the Hoesselberg, let us say, +or any other mythological fastness in which a goddess could have lived +apart from the world for a few centuries. From out it steps our dear +Venus of Milo in proper person, leading by the hand a half-grown boy, +who is no less a person than the little Amor. They are both but +scantily clad, and gaze around with wondering eyes upon a world that +has greatly changed since last they saw it. A city lies before them, +with battlements and towers of strange shape standing out against the +sky. Horsemen and pedestrians are coming out of the gate, dressed in +bright-colored garments of a peculiar cut, which were nowhere in +fashion in the world when the old gods were worshiped. The sky is +clouded over, and a drizzling rain is gently falling, which forces the +lady and her little boy to seek another place of refuge, since they can +no longer find their way back to their old retreat. Yet they lack the +courage to enter the town, with its swarming mass of human beings. But +in the mountain over across the valley stands a high stone building, +from which a tower, with a beautiful chime of bells, seems to ring out +over the land an invitation for all men to draw near. It is true, this +cannot be expressed in the sketch, but then the cloister over on the +hill must have something homelike about it, so that everybody will +understand why the fugitives, standing below in the rain, under shelter +of a laurel bush, are gazing up at it with longing eyes. And now, +when the sun breaks forth again, they muster up their courage and knock +at the cloister gate. The nuns rush out at the cry their sister +gate-keeper utters when she sees this queenly woman, with the +black-eyed child of the gods, standing on the threshold, both half +naked, and with their blonde hair falling about their shoulders. Then, +too, as is natural, the nun understands no Greek, which would have +enabled her to interpret the stranger's request for hospitality; nor +can the abbess herself make out anything more as to the strangers' +origin and character. But of one thing she is certain--this is not a +strolling beggar of the usual sort. Thus, in the third picture, we see +Madame Venus sitting in the refectory seeking to still her hunger; but +the food is too coarse for her, and she tastes nothing but the cloister +wine. They offer her a coarse, woolen nun's-dress, which, however, she +scorns to wear. The only other dress they have on hand is the thin gown +belonging to a beggar who died in the cloister a short time before. +This she consents to put on; and although, here and there, her +beautiful white skin peeps through a tear in the old rags, she seems to +think this better than to be confined in the black shroud of the +sisters. Her little boy has also been provided with a shirt, and is now +being passed around from hand to hand, and lap to lap; for each of the +nuns is eager to caress him. While they are sitting thus, on the best +of terms, the priest of the place comes to have a talk with the abbess. +He suspects something wrong, and stands on the threshold, dumb with +amazement, and devours this strange beggar-woman with his eyes. But the +little rascal of a boy goes up to him, and succeeds in making his +reverence fall over head and ears in love with the strange lady, and +scatter his older sentiments for the abbess to the four winds. A fourth +sheet shows him as he strolls up and down the little cloister garden +with Madame Venus, passionately declaring his love. At the window +stands the pious mother of the convent, torn with jealousy; and it +requires little imagination to foresee that her ecclesiastical friend +has hardly turned his back before this dangerous guest is, under one +pretext or another, thrust rudely forth into the wide world again, with +her little boy--who is tired, and would have liked to sleep instead of +having to wander about in the stormy night. But a house or hut is +nowhere to be found, while, on the other hand, suspicious-looking +groups pass by them: gypsies, who cast covetous eyes at the beautiful +child; and one of them--a wicked, toothless old hag--actually catches +him by the skirts of his little gown. But, fortunately, he glides out +of her hands like an eel, and flies into the thicket, and his mother +after him: who is so lost in thought that she scarcely heeds the +danger. 'Where can all the others have gone?' is the question over +which she broods ceaselessly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know yet, myself, whether I shall show any more of her +adventures by the way. Every day something new occurs to me, with which +I might illustrate, both humorously and seriously, how, homeless and an +outcast, this beauty had to beg her way through this sober world of +ours. But, whenever she appeared at the door of simple and natural +beings, she needed to utter no word, and not even to stretch out her +hand. She touched the hearts of all; and every one--though here and +there with a secret shudder--gave her from his poverty as much +as he could spare. Young people, upon whom she had bestowed but a +single glance, left house, and home, and calling, and wandered after +her--through populous regions as well as through the wilderness--until, +in their dreamy blindness, they fell over steep precipices, or into +raging torrents, or came to an untimely end in one way or another. But +she herself, growing sadder and sadder, wandered along her way, and +thought of the times when the mortals who beheld her grew blissful and +happy and not wretched, and when they gave banquets in her honor, and +laid the most beautiful gifts at her feet; then she was a goddess, with +a train of followers whose numbers were incalculable.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Brooding in this way, she comes one evening to a celebrated pilgrims' +chapel, lying in a charming little valley, and shaded on all sides by +evergreen trees; and it is so late that no one observes her as she +enters into the empty sanctuary with her boy--who is weary, and whose +feet are sore--still holding fast to the skirts of her beggar's gown.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Only the eternal lamp is still burning before the altar, but the moon +shines through the arched windows, and it is as bright as day within. +The godlike woman sees a brown, wooden, life-sized figure seated on a +high throne. Two glass eyes glare upon her, and on the head flames a +golden crown; a mantle of red velvet falls about the angular shoulders, +and on her knees lies a wax child in swaddling clothes. She approaches +quite near, and touches the mantle, and plucks at the heavy folds; +whereupon the clasp on the neck of the image becomes unfastened, and +the lean, wooden body appears, looking ghastly enough. A shudder creeps +over the beautiful woman as she sees this image before her in all its +lean, worm-eaten ugliness. 'Ah!' she thinks to herself, 'this +princess's mantle will become me better than it does that old piece of +carving!' and begins to wrap herself in its heavy folds, which give +forth an odor of incense; and then she sets the crown on her head, and +asks her boy whether she pleases him. But he only blinks at her a +little, for he is tired to death. Then she takes pity on the poor +child, lifts the image from its gilded throne, and the wax infant rolls +to the ground and is dashed to pieces. She does not heed this, however, +but mounts the steps and seats herself in the chair under the canopy, +and the little Amor nestles warm in her lap, and, half covered by the +velvet mantle, falls asleep on her heavenly bosom. All around her it is +still; no sound is heard but the whirr of the bats as they fly hither +and thither under the high dome, not daring to light on the crown of +the stranger as they were accustomed to do upon the wooden image, being +frightened away by the brightness of her eyes; until at last the eyes +close, and the mother and son sleep quietly on their throne above the +altar.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the early morning, even before the pilgrims who are encamped all +about the chapel have awakened, a young man comes along the road, +and, thinking no evil, enters the open portal, through which the gray +light of morning has just begun to steal. He has often seen the +wonder-working image that was worshiped here, but has never found that +it exerted any particular power upon himself. And now he merely goes in +and kneels down in a corner to let his heart commune with its God. But +as his eyes roam absently about the chapel they encounter the divine +apparition on the altar, sending a shock full of bliss and longing, +adoration and rapture, to the very depths of his heart. Just at this +moment the divine woman opens her eyes, makes a movement--which also +wakes the boy--and has to think a little before she can remember where +she is and how she came there. Her look falls upon the youth, who +stands there gazing up at her, looking so handsome and earnest, and as +if he were turned into a statue. She smiles graciously upon him, and +moves her hand in token of greeting. Then a holy dread overcomes him, +so that he flies from the chapel, and it is only when he is alone in +the solitary wood that he recalls what he has seen, and realizes what a +miracle has been revealed to him. And immediately the yearning comes +back to him. Like a drunken man he staggers back to the chapel, where +he finds the pilgrims already at their first mass. But the marvelously +beautiful lady with the boy has vanished; the wooden Madonna is again +enthroned under the baldachuin, and even a wax child lies upon her lap, +for the priests have supplied the place of the broken one by another. +Everything is in its old place, only the crown sits a little aslant on +the brown, wooden head, for the sacristan has not succeeded in +repairing the mysterious destruction any better. But the youth turns +his steps homeward, and bears about with him, through his whole life, +the after-glow of this wonderful apparition; striving always to +represent, to his fellowmen who had not beheld it with their own eyes, +how she had looked upon him--at first earnestly and dreamily, and then +with a winning smile--and how the boy, with his wondering gaze, had +illuminated everything about him, as if with balls of fire. And in his +efforts to do this--for he was an artist--he has attained to greater +and greater power and influence over his fellow-men, and each time has +succeeded better in catching the face; and that is the secret which can +be found in no history of art--the reason why this young Raphael has +become the greatest of all painters, and his picture of the Madonna +surpasses all others in beauty and in power."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">"By all the good spirits, but you are a poet!" cried Rossel, and he +sprang up with so unusual an alacrity that his red fez slipped off his +head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A poet!" responded his modest friend, with a sad smile. "There, you +see how low we have sunken nowadays. If it ever occurs to one of us to +let any idea enter his head that goes beyond a whistling shoemaker's +apprentice, or some celebrated historical event, or a bathing nymph, he +must immediately hear himself scouted as a poet. Those old fellows like +Dürer, Holbein, Mantegna, and the rest, were left unmolested to spin +into fables whatever struck them as beautiful or odd. But, nowadays, +the doctrine of the division of labor is the panacea for all things; +and if a poor fool of a painter or draughtsman works out for himself +anything which a poet could by any possibility put into verse, people +immediately come running up with Lessing's 'Laokoön'--which, by the +way, no one thinks of reading nowadays--and prove that in this case all +bounds have been overstepped. If a poor devil of an artist has a fancy +for poetry, why doesn't he go to work and illustrate? After all, it is +a trade that supports its man, and one who follows it can be a +thorough-going realist, and can easily guard himself against all danger +of infection from poetry. But an arrogant wight of an idealist, whom +the world refuses to keep warm, and who, therefore, must take care not +to let the sacred fire go out on the hearth of his art--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are getting warm without cause, my dear Kohle!" interposed the +other. "Good heavens! it is indeed a breadless art, that of the poet, +but a deadly sin it certainly is not; and I, for my part, could almost +envy you for having such ideas as those you have just been telling me. +I'll tell you what--finish your plans, and then we will both of us +paint this beautiful story of Dame Venus inside there on the wall of +our dining-room. The devil must be in it, if we don't succeed in +producing something that will throw the Casa Bartoldi deep into the +shade."</p> + +<p class="normal">He knew when he said this what a great proposal he had let fall upon +the listening soul of his friend.</p> + +<p class="normal">Kohle, like all art apostles of his stamp, despised easel and oil +painting, as it is usually practised. On the other hand, the great aim +of his longing and ambition was to be able, just for once, to wield his +fresco brush to his heart's content on a wall a hundred feet long; and +his friends were fond of plaguing him about a wish that had once +escaped him--"My life for a bare wall!" Heretofore no one had been +willing to entrust him with a square yard of his house, or even of his +garden, for this purpose. And now, suddenly, he had only to put forth +his hand, and see his greatest desire for monumental art-creation +fulfilled.</p> + +<p class="normal">At first he could not believe in such overwhelming good-fortune. But +when the look of glad surprise and trembling doubt which he cast upon +his host encountered a perfectly serious face, he could no longer hold +himself in his chair. He sprang to his feet, threw his shabby black hat +high into the air, and, with outstretched arms and glowing face, +prepared to throw himself upon his friend, who was slowly strolling +back and forth. "Brother!" he cried, in a half-stifled voice, "this-- +this--" But Rossel suddenly stood still and made a motion with his +hand, which checked the enthusiast in the very height of his wild +excitement.</p> + +<p class="normal">The remembrance of a similar moment, when his heart had overflowed +toward his friend, and he had been upon the verge of formally offering +him "good-comradeship," came back to him with a rude shock. Then the +word had not yet passed his lips, when Rossel, at the very same moment, +though apparently without intention, had begun to speak of his aversion +to the display of tenderness among men, and had frightened away this +outburst of brotherly affection. And could it be that even now the ice +was not to be broken between them, and that this fulfillment of the +dearest wish of his life was nothing but the favor of a gracious +patron, a whim on the part of the rich host toward the poor devil who +sat at his hospitable table? His proud, sensitive soul was just on the +point of revolting against this, when from afar off a sound struck upon +his ear, which, as he instantly perceived, had been heard by Edward +sooner than by him, and which had been the cause of his gesture of +repulse. The soft notes of a flute came wafted to them over the lake, +nearer and nearer to the spot on the bank where Rossel's villa stood.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is he!" said Rossel. "Even the peace of night is not so sacred as +to guard defenseless beings from the attacks of this romantic amateur. +Look here, Kohle, see how the boat is just floating out of the shadow +into the silvery path of the moon--Rosebud stands erect in the centre, +like Lohengrin; and that tall figure at the tiller is undoubtedly +Elfinger's high-mightiness--they are making straight for our +balcony--well, let the will of the gods be done!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The notes of the flute died away in a melting trill, and immediately +afterward Rosenbusch sprang ashore. "<i>Salem aleikum!</i>" he cried, waving +his hat. "We make our attack from the side of the lake, obeying +necessity and not our own desire, for a mouse-hole where two travelers +might lay their heads for the night couldn't be had in Starnberg for +all the gold of California. Saturday and this beautiful weather have +lured half Munich out there. I immediately thought of you, old boy, and +told Elfinger, who thought it would be presumptuous for us to force +ourselves on you without a special invitation, that, in addition to all +sorts of oriental qualities which are hateful to me, you also possessed +three most estimable ones--namely, a number of superfluous divans, +excellent coffee, and a spirit of hospitality worthy of a Bedouin. +Consequently, that, unless your shady roof chanced to be sheltering a +few odalisques who had already taken possession of all the couches, you +would not turn us away from your threshold. At the worst, it won't be +any great misfortune to two jolly juveniles like ourselves to pass a +night, just for once, on the floor of a fishing-boat.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="t4">'Upon the laughing wave below,</p> +<p class="t5">The stars are mirrored bright;</p> +<p class="t4">The mighty heights that frown around</p> +<p class="t5">Drink in the mists of night,'"</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">he sang, to an air of his own composing, his eyes turned upon the +mountains that lay hazy in the distance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are welcome to my poor roof," responded Rossel, with gravity, +cordially shaking hands with the actor, whom he greatly esteemed, and +whose modesty caused him to hang back a little. "All the divans I +possess stand at your service; and of blankets, too, there is no lack. +I only hope, for your sake, that you have already satisfied the grosser +wants of the body. Our daily supply of provisions is exhausted, and +there is no attendant spirit at hand whom I could send to the neighbors +in quest of aid. I have only old Katie out here, and she--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Does she still live, that venerable virgin with the silver locks, who +thinks how she might have had children, and grandchildren, and shakes +her head?" cried the battle-painter. "Come, Elfinger, it behooves us to +go and offer our homage to the lady and mistress of the house."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will have to curb your impatience until morning, my dear Rosebud; +the old woman has taken it into her head to relieve the loneliness of +the long winter out here on the lake by making <i>Enzian schnapps</i>, and +diligently devotes herself the whole summer long to the consumption of +her own manufacture, so that she is good for nothing after eight +o'clock. The most tender flute-serenade would not wake her from her +deathlike Enzian sleep. Were it not that she is reasonably sober during +the day, is a good cook, and is as faithful as an old dog, I would have +sent her to the hospital long ago."</p> + +<p class="normal">In the mean time, Rosenbusch had paid off and sent away the boatman, +whom he never spoke of except as the "Fergen," and now rushed up the +steps to the balcony, where, with a merry jodel he threw himself into a +chair, and drank the health of the others from Kohle's half-filled +glass.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="t4">"'Well for the rich and happy house,</p> +<p class="t5">That counts such gift but small!'"</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">he cried. "Long life to you, dear <i>Westöstlicher</i>. Truly, Rossel, there +are moments when I acknowledge and honor the old proverb, 'Wisdom is +good, especially with an inheritance.' If I could call a spot of earth +like this mine, I myself would try to be as wise as you, and no longer +assist at the decline of modern art. But no; after all, I couldn't +stand doing nothing but feeding my white-mice and giving myself up to +intellectual laziness. However, enough of this. Out here is truce and +neutral territory, and I know what I owe to hospitality."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Since you began it yourself," said Rossel, with a smile, "I have a +single favor to ask of you. I have a number of song-birds in my garden, +and I am afraid you will drive them from me if you give a loose rein to +your baleful passion for music. They will acknowledge your superior +genius, and shrink from competition. If you positively must play, row +out upon the lake. There is a southwest wind which will waft the +strains across to the castle over opposite, where they will do no +harm."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So be it," responded the battle-painter, with great seriousness; +"though, in any case, we shan't burden you with our presence very long. +For, to-morrow--" He broke off, for Elfinger gave him a warning look. +In the meanwhile, Kohle had hastened down into the cellar, and now +returned with a few slim bottles and the wine-cooler, which he had +filled afresh with ice.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had not yet spoken a word; but his whole face beamed with an inner +content such as he seldom exhibited. The thought of the bare walls +inspired him as the happiness of a secret love does others. Meantime, +Elfinger had descended again to the bank, from which a little path led +to a bathing-house. Soon his friends who had remained behind saw him +swim out into the lake, his black, curly bead rising out of the silver +path of the moonlight, "like the head of the Baptist on Herodias's +charger," said Koble. "Except that he feels himself much better off +than that poor devil," remarked Rosenbusch, who was comfortably +drinking and smoking. "You must know that we wouldn't have had the +absurd idea of making a pilgrimage out here on Saturday evening, in +company with the whole population of Munich, had not our sweethearts +shown us the way. Papa Glovemaker has permitted them to visit a Frau +godmother, who is staying in Starnberg for the summer. We had no sooner +gotten wind of this, through a trusty go-between, than we very +naturally made up our minds that we could find no better place to spend +to-morrow than here. Of course, we have taken care to make arrangements +for meeting to-morrow. We are going to take you with us as guard of +honor, Philip Emanuel. It is to be hoped you have no objections to the +plan?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not the slightest," responded Koble, good-naturedly. "Of course, the +Frau godmother will fall to my share."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And how about Elfinger's sweetheart? Is that little bride of heaven +also in the conspiracy?" asked Fat Rossel, who was sitting in his +rocking-chair again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing certain is known about that; but, at all events, our friend +builds great hopes upon this favor of fortune, which will permit him, +for the first time, to pass several hours in the company of his +darling. Only think; we also succeeded, a short time since, in finding +out what it really is that has disgusted the good child with the world, +and that is driving her into the convent by main force."</p> + +<p class="normal">He cast a look upon the lake, as though he were measuring the distance +between the balcony where they sat and the swimmer in the water.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you will keep close about it, I will tell you the secret," he +continued, in a low voice. "After all, it only does honor to the poor +girl that she wants to take the sins of others on her own shoulders, +and do penance for them all her life long. Papa Glove-maker, you must +know, appears to have been by no means such a very long-faced character +in his youth, but, on the contrary, to have led a pretty wild life, and +to have been mixed up in scrapes that were not always of a particularly +edifying nature. However, he married young, and soon after this event +there came a mission of Jesuits to the city, or to some place in the +neighborhood--on this subject the records are silent--and the young +sinner, who had already had ample opportunity for repentance in his +marriage relations, allowed his conscience to be shaken to such an +extent by the priests that he suddenly took a fancy to retire almost +entirely from the world, neglected his business so that he almost +reduced himself to beggary, and practically separated himself from his +young wife. He had long lost her love, for which he did not seem to +care; but this was not the worst. Devoted to his vigils and penances, +he is said to have known of and condoned an intimacy which she soon +after formed with a young landscape-painter, who lived for a long time +in the house. The birth of a little girl, who was named Fanny, ended +this relation; but, even then, the friendship shown for the artist did +not at once cease. He stood as the child's godfather; and every year +afterward he continued, although he had removed from Munich, to make a +visit to the house on little Fanny's birthday. It was soon obvious, +however, that Herr Glove-maker's views had changed; that he viewed him +with less and less favor each time that he appeared; and that a crisis +was approaching. And so, on one of these birthdays, when the girl had +already begun to think for herself a little, there must have been a +scene between her three elders, which was overheard by the unfortunate +young creature. A sudden revelation came upon her, that terribly +darkened and shattered her innocent spirit, so that she grew +introspective and melancholy--and perhaps she had some spiritual +adviser who was always giving her new fancies, and painting the terrors +of the hereafter in stronger colors. Nanny, our informant says, knows +nothing of the whole horrible business; and Fanny used to be just such +another merry creature. If this melancholy idea did not so weigh upon +her--that she must do penance for the sins of her parents--she would be +as healthy, bright, and warm-blooded as her younger sister. Since +Elfinger has learned this family secret, he has gained new hopes of +turning this little bride of heaven back from the cloister. But it will +hardly succeed; and if he doesn't use heroic remedies--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He didn't finish his sentence; for just then his friend, refreshed by +his bath, came running up the steps; and now, with an obvious sense of +comfort, but with the rather quiet manners habitual to him, gave +himself up to the enjoyment of the wine. Kohle, too, spoke only in +monosyllables, so that Rosenbusch and Rossel had to bear the burden of +the conversation. Moreover, as the day had been hot, and as they all +really needed rest, the bottles were soon emptied, and the airy spot on +the bank of the lake deserted.</p> + +<p class="normal">Upon entering the house, Kohle's first care was to light the candles. +Then he dragged out two woolen blankets from a wardrobe, where all +sorts of things were stored. While occupied with this work he allowed +his eyes to wander stealthily and tenderly over the long wall of the +little room, as if he were measuring off and taking possession of the +site of his future deeds. Two low, well-stuffed divans stood against +these walls, an old table occupied the centre, and over it hung a +chandelier with polished brass branches. The broad glass door of the +hall opened upon the lake, and no sound penetrated into this airy room +but the gentle murmur of the splashing waves, and a soft snoring from +the chamber near the kitchen where old Katie had her bed. After all the +doors had been shut and locked, even this nocturnal music was heard no +longer.</p> + +<p class="normal">The two new guests had just stretched themselves out on their couches, +by way of experiment, and had wished their host good-night with a great +deal of laughter and joking, when they were roused again by a distant +ring at the park gate. Kohle hastily seized a light and ran out. Five +minutes after they heard him return; he was talking with some one whose +voice they none of them seemed to recognize. But, the moment they +entered, the three shouted as with one voice:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Our baron! And so late at night!"</p> + +<p class="normal">They had recognized Felix more from his figure and bearing than from +his features, though the light of the candle fell full upon his face; +for it looked wan and transformed as if by some severe illness. His +eyes, roaming restlessly about the room, had a piercing, feverish +glitter, so that his friends stormed him with questions as to whether +he was sick or had seen a ghost on his way through the wood.</p> + +<p class="normal">He gave a forced laugh, passed his hand across his cold forehead, on +which great beads of perspiration were standing, and declared that he +had never felt better in his life, and that he was as proof against +ghosts as the babe unborn. In spite of all this, there was something +constrained in all his movements, and his voice sounded hoarse and +unnatural, as it often does when a person is laboring under great +excitement.</p> + +<p class="normal">He told how he too had been unable to find quarters in Starnberg, and +had left the horse on which he had ridden out at the tavern, in order +to make the remaining half-hour's journey to Rossel's country-seat on +foot; and that, in trying to follow the rather confused directions +which had been given him, he had gone a good deal out of his way. It +was this that had reduced him to his present demoralized condition. But +he would not disturb them on any account, and only asked for a drop of +water and a corner where he could stretch himself out, for he was as +tired as a dog, and would be content even with a dog's kennel.</p> + +<p class="normal">He drained off a large glass of wine at a single swallow, then, with +averted face, shook hands with his friends and made a few forced +jokes--something he never thought of doing when he was quite himself. +He flatly refused to accept of Kohle's offer to give up his bed to him, +but gladly consented to be led into the studio, where, by the aid of a +few blankets, a deer-skin, and a shawl, they succeeded in transforming +an old garden-bench into a very respectable bed. Then, without even +waiting for the others who had escorted him up-stairs to leave the +room, he threw himself down upon the couch--"already half in the other +world," he tried to say, jestingly, as he nodded good-night to the +others.</p> + +<p class="normal">Shaking their heads, his friends left him. It was evident that this +late visit could be explained by no such innocent circumstances as had +occasioned that of the two who had preceded him. But, while they were +still standing outside the door exchanging remarks about Felix's +singular condition, they learned from the deep breathing within that +the object of their anxiety had fallen fast asleep.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">The clear song of the birds awoke him while it was still in the gray of +the morning, and not a sound could be heard in the house below.</p> + +<p class="normal">The tops of the pine-trees, seen through the broad studio-window, +recalled to his mind where he was, and how and why he had strayed +thither.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the afternoon he had met the lieutenant, whom he had not seen before +for a week, although he had zealously frequented all the places where +Schnetz was generally to be found. He knew that Irene had left the city +with her uncle. In his dull consternation upon learning this in reply +to an indirect inquiry at the hotel, he had not even inquired in which +direction they had gone. She had fled from him, that he knew; his mere +silent presence sufficed to frighten her away, to make the town in +which he lived distasteful to her. Whither had she fled? To Italy, as +she had at first planned?--to the east or to the west? What did it +matter to him, since he dared not follow her? Nor did he really care to +make any inquiries of Schnetz, who undoubtedly knew all about it. And +yet he was eager to see the only human being who might possibly give +him news of her. And when at last he encountered him in the street, +after a day of depression and brooding, on which he had not even seen +Jansen and had neglected his work, his heart beat so fast and his face +flushed so deeply that it seemed as if his unsuspecting friend could +not help reading all his secret thoughts in his eyes. And it really did +so happen that the very first words which Schnetz ejaculated, in reply +to Felix's inquiry as to how he was, had reference to the fugitives.</p> + +<p class="normal">Things went wretchedly with him. He had hoped to be rid of his serfdom +and slavery to woman, now that his whimsical little princess had gone +off with her servile valet of an uncle! Vain idea! The chain which held +him now reached as far as Starnberg, and only an hour ago he had felt +himself jerked by it in anything but a gentle way. A note from the +uncle summoned him to come out in all haste on the following day. +Visits had been announced for Sunday from all manner of youthful <i>haute +volés</i>, noble cousins and their followers; but the old lion-hunter had +previously accepted an invitation to a shooting-match at Seefeld, which +it would be quite impossible for him to escape, and his niece, poor +child, who, for some reason or other, was daily growing paler and more +nervous in the country air, felt herself quite incapable of doing the +honors of the little villa without the assistance of a zealous and +active cavalier. Consequently, Schnetz was her last hope, and he could +assure him of Irene's kindest welcome, and of his own eternal gratitude +if he would come and be her knight! "You will readily understand, my +dear baron," concluded the grumbling cavalier, slapping his high boots +with his riding-whip, "that there are moral impossibilities which +prevent the slave from breaking his chain. But to the hundred times I +have already cursed this Algerian camp-friendship, I have added to-day +the one hundred and first. It is true, I certainly have a certain +curiosity to see how this 'kindest welcome' of her proud little +highness will seem. You know I have a secret weakness for this gracious +little tyrant of mine. But it is asking a great deal of me to expect +that I should bear with her whims and humors for a whole day. Pity me, +happy man! you who are free from all service, and receive no other +orders than those which come from the genius of art."</p> + +<p class="normal">His speech had been long enough for Felix to think of some appropriate +and sufficiently cheerful answer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are terribly mistaken, my dear friend," he said, "if you think I +wear no chain. Art, do you say? She is a gracious mistress to him alone +who has gotten so far as to be able to rule her while he serves her. +But, as for a wretched beginner and blunderer to whom she has not yet +given her little finger to kiss, no raftsman or woodsman in the +mountains groans under such a load. A thousand times I ask myself +whether it was not, after all, a piece of folly for me, at my time of +life, to join the scholars who are learning her first A B C; and +whether I shall not discover to my horror, after the lapse of many +weary years, that all this precious time has been thrown out of the +window of Jansen's studio. It is certainly large enough for such a +purpose."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hm!" growled the tall lieutenant. "You are singing a bad song to an +old tune. Nowhere do you come across existences that are failures, more +frequently than in a city of art like this. It's so damned seductive to +go singing--</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="t4">'Free, ah, free, is the life we lead,</p> +<p class="t5">A life filled full of pleasure--'</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">and yet, what you say is quite right--he who cannot rule art, him she +oppresses; and that to a worse degree than does any duty of life. You, +as I know you, don't seem to me quite in your proper place. Both of us +ought to have come into the world a few centuries earlier; and then I, +as a leader of bandits, after the manner of Castruccio Castracani, and +you, as a politician of the old energetic and unscrupulous stamp, +might not have cut a bad figure. But now, all we can do is to help +ourselves as best we can. Now let me tell you something. You have been +over-excited, and have lost your spirits. Come out to the lake with me +to-morrow. I will introduce you to her young highness. Perhaps you will +fall in love with her and find favor in her eyes, and then our little +princess and both of us would be made happy at one stroke."</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix shook his head with increasing embarrassment. "He was not the man +for such company," he said, in a stammering voice; "Schnetz would get +little honor by introducing him. He couldn't swear that he wouldn't go +out to the lake. He certainly did stand in great need of a change of +air. But, unfortunately, he could be of no use to him in entertaining +his countesses, baronesses, and young nobles."</p> + +<p class="normal">With these words they had shaken hands and parted.</p> + +<p class="normal">But no sooner did Felix find himself alone than his passionate grief +and his old yearning came upon him with such force that he threw all +his resolutions to the winds, and thought only how he could be near her +once more. The evening train did not leave for some hours. It would be +impossible to wait for it, or to pass the intervening time in any +civilized fashion. He hired a horse and mounted, dressed just as he +was, and left the town at a sharp trot, without giving notice at his +own house of his intended absence, or even taking leave of Jansen.</p> + +<p class="normal">His horse was none of the best, and was somewhat tired from having been +in use before that day. Consequently he was soon obliged to moderate +his speed, and had only accomplished half his journey, when the train +whirled by him. But he was not at all sorry to have to take the last +part of the way at a walk. The nearer he approached his goal, the more +conflicting became his feelings. What object had he in coming here at +all? He knew that she avoided him, and that she would unquestionably +leave this retreat too, if she should form but the slightest suspicion +that he was following her, and seeking an opportunity to meet her +again. And in what a light must he himself, his pride, his sense of +delicacy, appear to her, unless he carefully avoided even the +appearance of trying to intrude himself upon the peace that she had won +with such difficulty? If she could do without him, ought he to show how +painful it still was for him to do without her?</p> + +<p class="normal">He reined up his horse so sharply that the animal stood still, +trembling. All around him were solitary woods, and the road that ran by +the side of the railway was utterly deserted. He sprang off, threw the +reins over the horse's neck, and threw himself on his back at the side +of road, on the thick, dry moss, which sent out a cloud of fragrant +dust into the heated air.</p> + +<p class="normal">Here he lay; and if his manliness had not forbidden him, he would have +liked nothing better than to relieve himself by a flood of burning +tears, like a helpless, unhappy child, to whom some one has shown its +favorite plaything and then taken it away again. Instead of yielding to +such girlish weakness, he strengthened and stilled his rebellious heart +with that defiant spirit which is the man's form of this youthful +feebleness. He gnashed his teeth, cast threatening glances up at the +tree-tops and the blue dome of the sky, and behaved himself generally +in a way so boyish, and so unworthy of the great statesman that Schnetz +believed he had detected in him, that even his horse, hearing his wild, +disconnected words, and the strange gnashing and raving by which they +were accompanied, looked up in amazement from his grazing, and turned +his head toward his rider with an expression of silent pity. "Is it any +fault of mine," he raved to himself, "that a ridiculous accident has +brought her to the very spot where I was on the point of beginning a +new life? Must I fly before her, like a fool, the moment this absurd +fate brings her near me again? The world is surely large enough for us +both; and yet now, though she knows why I have pitched my tent in this +particular place, she persists in haunting the immediate neighborhood, +so that I can't take a step outside the gates without running the risk +of meeting her. What am I saying? Why, I do not dare even to go out to +the lake! I am to be cut off from light and air, and left to smother in +the Munich dust! In other words, I am to condemn myself to perpetual +imprisonment for a crime of which I do not even repent. No! I owe +something to myself as well. Why shouldn't I show that I have put the +whole affair behind me once for all, and go on living as though certain +eyes were no longer in the world? Cannot one person ignore another? +Shall it last forever, this fear of ghosts? As if one couldn't go +around a street corner without meeting a dead and buried love!"--he +sprang up suddenly, smoothed his hair, and brushed the dust from his +coat--"and though her eyes should look down upon me from every window +in Starnberg," he cried, "I will ride through the town and laugh at all +these apparitions!"</p> + +<p class="normal">So he swung himself into the saddle again, and rode over the few +remaining miles of his journey at a sharp trot. When at last a blue +strip of the lake sparkled through the tree-tops, and the houses of the +town came into view, a gray, starlit twilight had already settled down; +so that, after all, he could ride through the streets between the rows +of lighted windows, without any fear of being recognized.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nevertheless, it was almost a relief to him when, upon inquiry at all +of the three inns, he was told that no room could be had for the night. +He thought at once of Rossel's little country house, of which he had +often heard his friends speak. As the way was described to him, he +could still arrive there in good time, and before his friends had gone +to bed. So he contented himself with a hasty drink after his sultry +ride through the woods, handed over his animal to a hostler, who +promised to take good care of it, and got under way again.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had not had the heart to inquire for Irene's villa, though he had +thought for a moment of doing so--only that he might avoid it all the +more surely. But he did not allow her name to pass his lips. Clinching +his teeth, he went his way, past the garden fences and walls. The warm +night had enticed every living thing out into the open air. Under the +vines and in the summer-houses, on garden-benches and on balconies, old +and young sat, walked, and stood; and here and there one could hear the +clear but subdued sound of girlish laughter, as it suddenly burst forth +from whispered conversations or deep silence, like a rocket that starts +instantly from a humble fire-work into the dark heaven of night. Some +one was playing a cither, to which a man's voice sang a low +accompaniment; from another house a full soprano voice sang Schubert's +Erl King, to the loud music of a piano; and from yet another was heard +a violin concerto, with a clarionet <i>obbligato</i>. All harmonized as well +as the different voices of the birds in the woods, for the sounds were +softened and melted into one another by the sultry night air. +Involuntarily Felix stood still and listened.</p> + +<p class="normal">As chance would have it, his eyes rested on a little house from which +came no sound of song or music, and which was overhung with exquisite +roses, while tall hollyhocks nodded over the garden-fence. In the upper +story was a room with a balcony, lit by a hanging-lamp. The door stood +wide open, but the brightly-lighted apartment beyond seemed to be quite +empty. Of a sudden, just as the clarionet was playing a solo, a shadow +entered the bright frame made by the balcony door. A slender, womanly +figure stood on the threshold for a moment, then stepped out in full +view and leaned over the balustrade. Her features could not be clearly +distinguished from the street, and the watcher below still hesitated to +believe his beating heart. But now the shadow moved, and turned its +face toward the bright door, as if some one in the room had called to +it. For a minute or two the outline of a clear-cut profile could be +seen sharply defined against the background of light. It was she!--his +beating heart had known her sooner than his open eyes; and now it beat +all the more wildly as the apparition disappeared into the room again +as quickly as it had come. So this was the place! Now he knew it--now +he could mark the house well, so that he might always carefully avoid +it by a wide <i>détour</i>. He trembled all over, and his feet would not at +first obey him, when he tried to tear himself away and continue his +wandering. In his excitement he missed the road that runs along by the +lake, and followed the side-road leading to the Seven Springs. It was +only when he reached that spot, and found himself in the midst of a +swampy thicket, that he became aware of his mistake. Then, with the +stars for his guides, he began to search his way back again. But once +more he lost the right track; the sweat rolled down his forehead. With +laboring breast he forced his way through the thick underbrush; and, +panting like a wounded stag, succeeded in reaching a glade from which +he could see the railway, and over beyond it, through the tree-tops, +the broad surface of the lake, glittering in the moonlight. A signalman +whom he met put him upon his way again. He saw that he had already gone +far beyond his goal, and his anxiety lest he should disturb his friend +by coming to him at so late an hour, quickened his steps. Thus it was +that he reached Edward's in the state in which we have already seen +him.</p> + +<p class="normal">But the strength of his youth pulled him through all his troubles +overnight. He awoke in the morning with all his senses refreshed from +those bright dreams with which the soul, healing silently as her wont +is, had striven to restore her shaken balance. Nor did this bright +cheerfulness of the morning desert him when he was fully awake, and was +forced to admit that matters stood no better with him to-day than on +the day before. A feeling of courage made the blood course warmly +through his veins: a secret delight in life, and a quiet confidence +which he could not altogether destroy, and which was very different +from the boastful courage of the previous day. He opened the window and +stood for a long time breathings in the fresh fragrance of the firs. +Then he stepped before the easel, on which stood Kohle's cartoon +representing the first scene of his legend of Venus, a plan of which, +sketched in hasty outlines on a long roll of paper, lay near by. Felix +was enough of an artist to appreciate this singular conception, even +without an explanation; and, in his present romantic and excited state, +it attracted him wonderfully. He seated himself on the wooden stool +before the easel, and became absorbed in the contemplation of this +first sheet, which was now almost completed. The beautiful goddess, +leading her boy by the hand, had stepped half out of the shadow of a +wild and overgrown gorge, and was gazing wonderingly toward a city +which could be seen perched on a distant height, with Gothic +battlements and towers. A river, which wound around the base of the +hill, was spanned by a quaint old bridge, over which moved a long train +of merchants with heavily-laden wagons, accompanied by a few travelers. +A little further in the background was a shepherd-boy, stretched out on +the grass by the side of his flock, playing a reed pipe and gazing +dreamily up at the fleecy summer clouds. The figures were sharply and +almost harshly outlined, but there was a certain dignity in the whole, +that aided in heightening the fantastic charm of the conception, and +in holding the thoughts of the observer aloof from the realities of +every-day life.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix was still lost--as if in a second morning dream--in the +contemplation of this fairy world, when he heard a cautious step creep +up the narrow stairway, and stop at his door. He cried "come in," and +could not help laughing when he caught sight of Kohle's honest face +peering in with an expression as if he feared to find a man in the last +stages of illness. Upon his informing his amazed friend that he was in +excellent health, and that the picture of the goddess had probably +worked this miracle, the artist's features lighted up, and he began, +bright morning as it was, to speak of his work in the same spirit of +high-strung enthusiasm in which he had fallen asleep the night before, +and to give his explanation of the sketches, which, when unrolled, +extended across the whole breadth of the studio. Then the fact that +Rossel had given him leave to make use of the walls of the dining-room, +and had even offered to assist in the painting, had to be communicated +to Felix. Then, at last, he told him about the others; how they had +risen long ago, and, without waiting for breakfast, had started off for +Starnberg--Rosenbusch on matters connected with their love affairs, +and in order to make arrangements for effecting a meeting in the +afternoon; while Elfinger, who was passionately fond of fishing, had +gone to a trout-brook near the Seven Springs, with whose owner he was +acquainted--for he insisted upon contributing his share to the day's +dinner. The master of the house himself never made his appearance +before nine or ten o'clock. He was in the habit of taking his +breakfast, and of smoking and reading, in bed; declaring that even then +the day was much too long for him not to shorten it by any legitimate +stratagem.</p> + +<p class="normal">But Kohle had not yet finished what he was saying when the stairs once +more began to creak, this time under a slower and more ponderous tread. +Contrary to his usual habit, Fat Rossel had turned out early, in order +to make inquiries concerning Felix's condition. He had not even taken +time to complete his toilet, but came in his dressing-gown, his bare +feet thrust into his slippers. He was perceptibly relieved when Felix, +looking fresh and bright again, advanced to meet him and shook his +hand, really touched that his anxious friend should have sacrificed his +comfort for his sake.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There are good fellows still left in this wretched world," he cried; +"and I should be a villain indeed to make their lives uncomfortable. It +is true, my friends, all within and about me is not just as it should +be. But whoever shall see me drawing down the corners of my mouth and +making a long face to-day, let him call me a Nazarene and break his +maulstick over my back."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rossel nodded his head thoughtfully at these words, for this sudden +change in the young man's mood did not appear quite natural to him; +however, he did not say a word, but seated himself on the stool before +the easel--having first laid a pillow on it--in order to study Kohle's +designs.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hm--hm! So--so! Fine--fine!" were the only critical remarks which he +uttered for the space of a quarter of an hour. Then, however, he began +to go into details, and, as he did so, all the strange traits of his +nature came into view.</p> + +<p class="normal">For, just as his own fancy was inexhaustible in raising buds that never +bore fruit, so too, in regard to the works of others, he had gradually +lost the faculty of patiently following the slow maturing of a thought +in accordance with the inherent laws and quiet workings of Nature. For +young people especially he was dangerous, for he first excited them +powerfully, and led them in a perfect reel through a world of artistic +problems; and then, the moment they went to work in earnest upon a +particular task, his keenness and superior knowledge disgusted them +with the subject they had taken up, by demonstrating to them a variety +of other ways and methods in which the theme might be treated even more +happily. Then, if they decided to destroy what they had begun, and +begin anew according to one of the ways suggested, they found +themselves no better off than before, since the one decisive and final +solution always receded farther and farther into unattainable distance. +In this way they lost all disposition to strike out boldly and +energetically; became hair-splitters and theorists after the style of +their master; or, if they did not possess enough mind or money for +this, they gave themselves up in their desperation to mere mechanical +work, which they pursued in secret, taking good care never to knock +again at the door of their former oracle with a question about art.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is no one who sees into a picture, or out of it again, as +quickly as Rossel," Jansen had once said, and Felix now had an +unusually good opportunity of observing the force of this remark, in +the manner in which Rossel examined Kohle's designs. For since, in this +case, the critic was himself to lend a helping hand, his fancy was even +more active than usual in rearranging what had been done, in order that +it might, as far as possible, appropriate the picture to itself. How +the light effect was to be arranged for every picture, what problems of +color would enter into the question, how Giorgione would probably have +composed the background, and what effect it would have if, for +instance, the whole first scene should be transposed from broad day +into evening twilight--all these questions were weighed in the most +serious fashion; while all the while the position of the figures, the +way in which the space was divided, and the landscape, were so +mercilessly changed about, that finally the new conception of the work +had scarcely anything in common with the original plan, except the mere +subject.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nor was even this last point to be regarded as definitely settled, but +was merely to be looked upon as a basis for further consideration. But, +while Kohle's face kept growing longer and more anxious, that of his +fellow-laborer beamed with growing satisfaction. Every muscle in it +quivered with intellectual life, and his black eyes flashed with +genuine enthusiasm from beneath his white forehead. When finally he +rose, he extended his arms above his head and cried:</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is nothing finer than a good work which has been taken hold of +at the right end. You shall see, Kohle--the thing will go. I take such +pleasure in it that I would begin to-day--at once, if it didn't happen +to be Sunday and I had not, before all things, to play the attentive +host. However, you will have quite enough to do in making the changes +in the cartoon. In the meanwhile I will assist my household dragon in +composing a bill of fare--a thing which will take more thought, let me +tell you, than even our dame Venus."</p> + +<p class="normal">As soon as he had gone the two looked at one another, and Felix could +not help bursting into a loud laugh, in which poor Kohle joined--at +least with a pathetic smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now you see what comes of being too wise about anything," said he, +regarding his sketch with a sigh. "When, in my stupidity, I went +straight on following my <i>certa idea</i>, or even my nose, something +came of it at all events. But after these criticisms, which were, +by-the-way, all excellent and capital and appropriate, I am afraid the +whole thing will go to the deuce again! If it were not for the +beautiful wall down stairs I would tell him candidly that so ill-mated +a span--as ill-matched as an ox and horse--would never drag the plough +very far. Better to let the lean horse do the work alone, even though +the furrows should not be quite so smooth. Alas, alas, alas! My poor +dame Venus!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Nevertheless, the creative instinct was too powerful in him to let his +depression at the interference of this eternal waverer affect him long, +or sap his strength. In the very midst of his upbraiding, after he had +angrily thrown the first sheet into a corner, he took a second frame of +card-board, and began to sketch the scene where the homeless beauty, +with her naked boy, is standing at the gate of the convent, surrounded +by the staring nuns, whose looks and attitudes express doubt and +suspicion. Felix threw himself on his couch again, and lay smoking, +rarely throwing in a word, as he watched every movement of the other's +hand. The proximity of this man, who was self-reliant, so humble, and +yet so constantly striving at some lofty aim, exercised a singularly +soothing influence upon Felix's restless soul. He confessed this, when +Kohle began to express surprise that any one should leave the town, +head over heels in this way, and rush into the country, in order, when +he arrived there, to shut himself up in a sunless garret room, and look +on while a man painfully trundled his barrow over a hard road, toward a +goal of art which is generally supposed to have long since been left +behind.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Kohle," he said, "only let me stay here. I should like very +much to learn something from you which would be of more benefit to me +than a walk or a bath in the lake--namely, your art of knowing just +what you want, and of wanting nothing which you cannot have. Was this +art born in you, or have you gradually acquired it, and paid your +instruction-fee for it, as for other arts?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"The best part of it is inborn," answered Kohle, quietly going on with +his sketching. "You must know that I came into this world as poor as a +church-mouse, and endowed with so small a proportion of all the goods +and gifts that fall to the share of so-called fortunate mortals, the +first-born and favorite children of Mother Nature, that, in my boyhood, +I had little pleasure in life, and would have parted with it very +cheaply. But then I discovered that I possessed something which +out-weighed all the glittering treasures in the world--such as beauty, +wealth, wit, or great intellect. I mean the ability to dream with my +eyes wide open, and to interpret my dreams for myself. The actual +world, with its joys and splendors, was as good as closed against a +poor devil like myself. How could such a wretched creature as this +Philip Emanuel Kohle, this lean, yellow ragamuffin in poor clothes, who +stumbled awkwardly through the world, and who could neither fascinate +women nor impress men, have the impudence to take his place at the +bounteous table at which the children of fortune felt at home? So I +held myself aloof, and earnestly and zealously set to work to evolve a +second world from my dreams--one which belonged to me, and from which +no one could bid me depart--a world which was far more beautiful, +sublime, and perfect, than the actual world about me. And as I +wasted no time or strength on anything else--neither in wretched +money-getting, nor in foolish ambition, nor even in hopeless love +affairs--my nature grew up straight and true, and in the greatest +development of which it was capable, which is by no means the case with +every one; and I could not help laughing in my sleeve, when I noticed +that I passed among my friends for a simpleton and a narrow-minded +fool. The truth is, my simpleness was the very thing that contributed +most to my secret contentment, when I saw how seldom the manifold +desires and restless striving of others led to happiness. '<i>Chi troppo +abbraccia, nulla stringe</i>,' say the wise Italians. I embrace nothing +but my art; but I embrace it the more passionately because it exists +for me alone. There you have the whole secret. There is a juster +apportionment of good and evil in this world than we are willing to +admit in our hours of depression."</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix was silent. It was on the tip of his tongue to say that he envied +him. Yet he felt at once how thoroughly right this quiet man was in his +last assertion. He felt that he would not, for all the peace in the +world, have given up his own miserable condition; for, at the same time +that it gave him the keenest anguish, it brought with it the certainty +that so charming a creature as his lost love was still in the world, +and had been brought so painfully near to him again.</p> + +<p class="normal">When noon came, they were called down into the garden by the +white-haired old woman, who, in her sober moments, was a most excellent +and active servant. The table was laid in a shady arbor near the house. +Rosenbusch and the actor had returned from their different expeditions; +the latter with a basket full of excellent trout, and the other +with a face which showed plainly enough that he too had not come +back unsuccessfully but had gained all he had promised himself from +his morning walk. He was in full gala-dress, consisting of his +violet-colored velvet coat, a white waistcoat, and a gigantic Panama +hat, beneath which his hair and his red beard, which had been shorn to +so little purpose, had already begun to sprout again. His honest, +merry, handsome face was radiant with good-humor; and as Elfinger did +his best to be entertaining, and Felix to make up for the alarm he had +occasioned on the previous day, the meal was enlivened by all sorts of +jollity and good stories.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nor was there, for that matter, any lack of more substantial dainties; +and Kohle, who had voluntarily taken upon himself the office of butler, +ran out every few minutes to fetch up another dusty bottle; for Rossel, +who was a light drinker himself, had a sort of passion for collecting +the rarest brands of wine in his cellar, if only a small supply of +each. It was not long before the programme which had been prepared for +the afternoon leaked out. They proposed to row over to Starnberg in +Rossel's pretty little boat, to land there, and then, while strolling +along the shore, to encounter, as if by pure accident, the two sisters, +who were to go out with their aunt, under the pretext of taking a walk. +Then, upon a polite invitation, they were all to get into the boat +again together, and be rowed out upon the lake, in whichever direction +circumstances and the mood of the moment might suggest.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rossel pronounced this plan to be very wisely conceived, but flatly +refused to take part in it. He had an aversion, founded on principle, +to all pic-nics, especially where there were ladies whom one was +obliged to treat with politeness and consideration, relinquishing to +them the most comfortable places and the daintiest morsels. For lovers +this was no sacrifice, since they could indemnify themselves in other +ways. But such a restraint could not be imposed upon free and +independent natures without great injustice. He would, therefore, +remain at home until the day grew cooler, and study Regis's translation +of Rabelais, which he had long had in mind to illustrate. Toward +evening he would stroll into the wood in order to take a look at his +mushroom-bed; for he had made it his especial task to forward the +culture of the mushroom in the woods about Starnberg, as well as the +general improvement and introduction of all edible fungi. Then, when +they came home late at night, intoxicated with sour beer and sweet +words, a supper should await them that would be "worth the toil of +princes."</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix, too, would gladly have remained behind. But there was no way for +him to do this without betraying his secret. And, besides, what else +could he do to quiet his secret yearning--since it was impossible for +him to approach her by daylight? He secretly consoled himself by the +thought that, when they returned, late in the evening, he would creep +to the garden-fence again, and watch the bright room leading off the +balcony.</p> + +<p class="normal">Philip Emanuel Kohle's feeble attempt to excuse himself, because of his +bashfulness in ladies' society, was clamorously voted down. As he was, +moreover, the only one of the party who carried a chart of the lake in +his head, he could not find it in his heart to desert his friends.</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a thunder-storm in the air, but it looked as though it had +come to a halt in the west, and would pass off harmlessly. The sky was +dark and lowering, and the lake was as smooth as a mirror, when the +light but roomy boat shot out of the little bay. Rossel stood on the +shore, waving his handkerchief and fez. Kohle sat at the tiller, +Elfinger rowed, and Rosenbusch, as they glided along past the green +banks, took advantage of the permit Rossel had given him, to play upon +his flute some of his most pastoral melodies--doubly melting this time, +for he was on his way to his sweetheart's side, and to Heaven knows +what romantic adventures.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">They had scarcely landed at the end of the lake when they saw in the +distance the three figures they were looking for, strolling slowly +along the road that circled the shore. When within hailing distance, +the prearranged farce of a chance meeting and recognition was played +with the utmost seriousness, and it was impossible to detect, from the +godmother's manner, whether she had accepted a <i>rôle</i> in the comedy, or +whether she innocently believed that the two gentlemen who lived +opposite the sisters in the city had merely seized this opportunity to +exchange a word or two with their lovely neighbors for the first time. +The girls bore themselves in accordance with their respective +characters--the elder quiet and sparing of words, the younger gay and +coquettish even to audacity. They were dressed charmingly, and indeed +almost elegantly; but Fanny wore dark ribbons, while Nanny's little hat +was adorned with a red rose and trimmings of the same color. The +battle-painter had warned the good Kohle at the dinner-table against +the godmother, as a pious creature, enthusiastic about art and +notorious for enticing into her net innocent young painters of a +serious turn of mind. But she was, in fact, a pleasant little soul +enough, far on in the thirties. She had lost her husband, a well-to-do +confectioner, shortly after their marriage, and was fond of protesting, +with many sighs, that she never, never could forget him. A Gothic +temple, made of sugar and adorned with numerous figures of saints, +which he had made for their marriage, as a sort of triumph of his art, +still stood in a state of good preservation under a glass case upon her +sideboard. Nevertheless rumor said of her that she had not always +harshly repulsed the numerous offers she had received as a widow, +though she had been too wise to give the slightest cause for public +gossip. Certain ecclesiastical gentlemen, who were in the habit of +going in and out of her house, gave her the best certificate of +character; and though she did not close her door to young artists, she +took care to see that they were proper, respectable people, who painted +church pictures with long robes, and did not wear their shirt-collars +after the fashion of too erratic genius; and that they held aloof from +all pagan theories of art. To this godly way of life she owed it that +her own godmother, the glove-maker's wife, had trusted her with "the +children" for a day, although some malicious people pretended to think +that to go gadding into the country was not exactly the thing for +well-preserved widows.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was quite modestly dressed, but yet in such a way that her figure, +already somewhat inclined to <i>embonpoint</i>, was shown to the best +advantage. In her manner she kept a wise mean between the severe +dignity which a God-fearing woman of an uncertain age usually maintains +toward youthful giddiness, and a too free approval of the pranks that +danced through her godchild's head. At the same time she did not try to +keep the silent Felix from knowing that his slim, manly form had made +an impression on her; though she was wise enough to do it so slyly as +to give a motherly sort of aspect to her interest in him. It was only +when the ungrateful man, whose poor soul was quite unconscious of its +conquest, continued to walk at her side in complacent abstraction, +casting furtive glances all around to see whether he was running +directly in the way of her whom he must especially avoid--then only did +she withdraw her favor from him and bestow it upon the insignificant +Kohle, whom Rosenbusch had introduced to her as a painter of the +severest style, a disciple of the great Cornelius, and one whom she +needed only to make a better Christian in order to win in him a new +pillar of ecclesiastical art. Kohle submitted to it all with a most +patient smile, and really began to pay pronounced attention to this +stately creature as well as he knew how, merely that he might not seem +to stand in the way of the others' sport.</p> + +<p class="normal">They had been strolling up and down the shore for about a quarter of an +hour in this way, when, as if without the slightest premeditation, the +proposal was made that they should take an excursion on the water; a +proposal which was accepted after a good deal of well-acted hesitation +on the part of the godmother, and much entreating and flattering and +coaxing on the part of the blonde Nanny.</p> + +<p class="normal">Soon afterward the boat, with its merry freight, shot out upon the +sunny lake, rowed now by Felix, who had had occasion to exercise this +noble art on many waters of the Old World and the New. Kohle sat at the +tiller and thought only of his dame Venus, notwithstanding the nearness +of the beautiful art-enthusiast who was opposite him. The two pairs of +lovers occupied the middle seats, Elfinger gazing devotedly on the +lovely face of his neighbor, who let her little white hand trail +through the green water, and seemed to-day to enjoy the beauty of this +world with all her heart. She held a large sunshade over her head in +such a way that her companion might also profit by its shade; the first +favor she had ever bestowed upon him, and one which made its modest +recipient very happy. Her vivacious sister, on the other hand, +maintained that Rosenbusch's great hat was really a family straw-hat, +and could afford protection against sunstroke to a whole ship's crew. +She freely exposed her laughing face to the sun, bound a white +handkerchief to her sunshade, which she planted like a flagstaff +between herself and her adorer, and declared that she was looking +forward with great pleasure to the storm which was undoubtedly about to +burst forth and bury them all in the depths of the lake, with the +exception of those who could swim--swimming being a great passion of +her own. She also offered to save one of the others, only it must not +be Rosenbusch, whose velvet coat was too heavy, and would certainly +drag down its owner.</p> + +<p class="normal">Aunt Babette--for this was the godmother's name--attempted now and then +to give her a reproving glance. But, as no one took the slightest +notice of this, she made up her mind to become young and worldly again +herself, particularly as the heat made all restraint doubly burdensome. +She unwound the lace shawl from her round shoulders, drew off her +gloves and untied her ribbons, so that she looked in her <i>négligé</i> +almost as young and certainly as full of life as the serious Fanny. She +laughed even louder than the two girls at the jests and tricks which +Rosenbusch displayed for their amusement. He was celebrated for his +power of mimicking the whirring of a quail, the cackling of a hen, and +the noise of a saw. He told long and ridiculous stories in different +dialects, and delivered a sermon, with the most solemn pulpit +utterance, in a senseless jargon which he gave out to be English. But +his great masterpiece was a pantomimic scene representing nuns praying +at their nightly devotions. To do this he bound a handkerchief round +his head, and wrapped himself up in a lady's cloak so that only his +eyes, the tip of his nose, and his hands-folded over his breast--were +left visible, and then began with hypocritical zeal and constant change +of expression to roll his eyes and nod his head and murmur over his +rosary, now as an antiquated, dozing nun, who kept dropping off to +sleep between her prayers; now as a deeply contrite and extravagantly +penitent sinner, and again as a well-to-do sister, grown gray in the +convent, who had long since learned to regard the matter from its +practical side, and refrained from unnecessary exertion, but strove +from time to time to keep up her spirits by taking a stolen pinch of +snuff.</p> + +<p class="normal">This amateur exhibition had worked so irresistibly that even the worthy +godmother nearly lost her balance from laughter, and had to be +supported by Kohle; and it was only when the show had come to an end +that it seemed to strike the conscience of its mischievous author that +he might possibly have offended Elfinger's devout <i>fiancée</i> by this +absurd parody. Whereupon, assuming an air of mock contrition, he begged +a thousand pardons of Fräulein Fanny, while in secret he reckoned it as +a good work to have given her a foretaste of the joys that awaited her. +Then, as if in penance for his offense, he suddenly began to play the +"<i>O Sanctissima</i>" upon his flute, with such beauty and pathos that even +the wild Nanny grew serious, and began to sing a gentle accompaniment, +in which her sister joined.</p> + +<p class="normal">It rang out sweetly over the lonely, brooding stillness of the lake, so +that they did not end with this first song, but followed each other +with their favorite airs.</p> + +<p class="normal">Elfinger sang an excellent tenor, and took great pains to make his song +strike home to the heart of his lovely neighbor. The two rowers alone +were dumb, though they had drawn in their oars upon getting well out +upon the water. Kohle had no more voice than a crow, and Felix felt as +if his breast were encircled by the seven girdles of the legend.</p> + +<p class="normal">As they floated along thus peacefully and quietly, a west wind sprung +up, and carried them unnoticed toward the opposite shore, where a +much-frequented garden-restaurant smiled on them from out the verdure +of a gently-sloping bank. Elfinger proposed that they should land here +and drink some coffee--a suggestion to which no one had an objection to +offer. And while they drifted slowly toward the shore he closed the +entertainment with a song which Rosenbusch had once written for one of +their feasts in "Paradise." It went to the tune of a popular melody, +and the author accompanied it skillfully on his flute.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">While the few stanzas of the song were sung, they had approached so +close to the bank that the people in the garden, where a mixed Sunday +company was collected, could hear the flute, and could even catch the +words. Some of the guests had left their places in order to take a +nearer look at the musicians; and as Rosenbusch had a large circle of +acquaintances, he was enthusiastically greeted on all sides. With an +air of complacent self-importance, he conducted his lady, who was +suddenly overcome with fear lest she too might be recognized and +reported to her father, to the only table which was still unoccupied. +The others followed; Felix alone remained behind for a few minutes at +the boat to repair some trifling damage to the rudder.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then, as he started after his friends, seeking them in the crowd from +table to table, until he finally caught sight of Nanny's coquettish +little hat with the red rose by the side of the white "family straw" of +her cavalier--what was it that made him suddenly stand still in the +scorching sun, with his eyes fixed upon a little summerhouse, in which +six persons were sitting about a round table?</p> + +<p class="normal">It was the shadiest spot in the garden, and the party within had caused +it to be distinctly understood that they had no intention of admitting +any others, by occupying all the chairs that were still vacant with +their hats, umbrellas, and canes. Nearest the entrance, like a sentry, +sat the tall, lank figure of the lieutenant, in his well-known +riding-coat; and at his side a slender young lady with downcast eyes, +as if, in the midst of all this confused buzz and hum of conversation, +she were occupied only with her own thoughts.</p> + +<p class="normal">Just then Schnetz addressed some remark to her, and she looked up and +let her glance wander over the garden. Thus it happened that her gaze +met that of the young man who was standing so conspicuously in the sun. +It is true, he instantly lowered his eyes; but he had already been +recognized, and could no longer think of retreating unnoticed. Besides, +at that very moment he felt himself touched on the arm by Kohle, who +had been up to the restaurant in the mean while to order coffee.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What are you standing here for?" cried his busy friend. "Come and help +me entertain the Frau godmother, who is boring me to death with her +talk about the black Madonna in Altötting, just from pure spite because +you play St. Anthony to her."</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix stammered out a few unintelligible words and allowed himself to +be dragged away. The chair which they had reserved next to Aunt Babette +stood, fortunately, with its back toward the summer-house. But scarcely +had he seated himself in it when Rosenbusch began: "Have you seen our +lieutenant, baron? This respected amphibion is taking his dry day +to-day among the nobler fowl, and appears, to judge from his +disconsolate air, to be gazing with longing at our moist element. What +a joke it would be if I should go up and beg him to introduce me to the +old countess and the young baroness! The latter would probably remember +having met me at that <i>soirée</i> at the Russian lady's, where you left me +to make love to her alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">Whereupon he gave the girls and their godmother a detailed account of +the musical entertainment, and of his conversation with Irene. Little +Nanny, who had possibly been infected by some of papa's prejudices in +regard to art, should be made to understand how highly a battle-painter +is regarded in the highest social circles, and what an enviable +position would be accorded to her as his wife. But the lively girl did +not appear to form a very exalted idea of his success.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you quite sure, Herr Rosenbusch," she said, "that they recognized +you again? The beautiful Fräulein scarcely moved her head when you took +off your hat to her, as though she meant to say, 'You are undoubtedly +mistaken in the person, sir.'"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was merely her surprise, and a passing feeling of displeasure at +seeing me approach in such charming company. She may have attributed +too much meaning to the pretty speeches I made to her that night. These +high-born Fräuleins are devilish sensitive, and for that reason I now +refrain from speaking to her. But why don't you go over and introduce +yourself to the ladies, my dear baron--you who have blue blood as well +as they?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Just at this moment Schnetz, in all his lankness, stepped up to their +table and greeted the ladies with formal politeness, at the same time +shaking hands with his friends. The fact that he should meet Felix here +did not seem to strike him as strange.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You happy mortals!" he growled out, biting his cigar, and pulling his +hat down lower over his forehead, while he withdrew a little distance +from the rest with Felix and Elfinger. "You all get on so capitally +together, and it does one good to hear you laugh so heartily; while we +are keeping up the usual sort of conventional twaddle, which consists, +upon my soul, in each one's saying nothing which the others could not +have said as well. They have just been wondering, behind my back, that +I should have anything whatever to do with you people, whom they look +upon as <i>mauvais genre</i>. A few artists and two pretty girls, at whose +papa's Madame the Countess buys her gloves--<i>quelle horreur!</i> But the +ladies are not so bad; even the young countess, with the fixed dimples +in her highly-colored cheeks--by Heaven! little Fanny over there looks +ten times as much like a countess--even she is a good child, <i>au fond</i>, +and the right sort of a husband might still make something of her. But +as for that cousin of hers, to whom she is as good as engaged, and the +other young nobleman, with the imperial and the heavy manner--between +ourselves, he is dead in love with my little princess, who scarcely +honors him with a look--<i>tonnerre de Dieu!</i> what nice specimens they +are of our high-born youth! And to think of my being condemned to go +about among them without treading on their toes! Thus are the sins of +the fathers visited upon the children! The first Schnetz who, whether +as marshal or hostler, helped an Agilolfinger into the saddle, has it +on his conscience that I, the unworthiest of his descendants, still +belong with the rest of them, hard as I try to make myself disagreeable +and even unbearable."</p> + +<p class="normal">They agreed to meet again in the evening at Rossel's villa, and then +returned to their respective parties. But our friends soon grew +impatient of quietly sitting at table over their coffee. The +neighboring wood invited the lovers where they could be free from +chaperonage, and Aunt Babette was paying too close attention to an +exposition of art by the "interesting young man," as she called Kohle, +to take any heed of the fact that Rosebud and Nanny occasionally +disappeared from view entirely, while Fanny anxiously insisted upon not +getting out of sight of the others.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix soon lost himself in a lonely side-path. His heart was hot within +him, and wild plans chased one another through his brain. He realized +only too well that matters could not go on in this way; that this state +of indecision <i>after</i> the decision would soon drive him to despair. If +the old world really was not large enough for him to avoid one woman +in, the ocean must separate them again, and this time forever. What he +was to do over there; how he could justify his resolution to Jansen, or +reconcile it with his choice of art as a profession, or with his own +pride, were questions which were still enveloped in darkness. But as +for tamely submitting, and allowing himself to be made a fool of by +capricious fortune, which seemed as if it had deliberately set itself +to work to bring the two lovers together on every possible occasion--to +this he would never consent!</p> + +<p class="normal">Whether he himself had not played into the hands of chance a little, +yesterday, was a question he did not ask.</p> + +<p class="normal">A distant peal of thunder, rolling toward him from the west, suddenly +roused him from these confused and bitter thoughts. The sky above the +tree-tops was still blue, but was overcast by that light, lead-colored +haze which precedes an approaching storm. There was no time to waste if +they wanted to get across the lake before the storm should break. For +already the air held its breath so utterly that not a leaf rustled on +the trees, and not even the note of a bird was heard. The lake, along +the banks of which Felix was hastening, was still unruffled by a breath +of wind; but its mid-waters were black with the reflection of the +heavy, low-hanging cloud that spread over the heaven like a gigantic +slab hewn from a single block of slate. Behind it, the bright sunlight +still glowed on the horizon, and the distant mountain chain shone out +in the delicate green of spring, as if bathed in eternal peace.</p> + +<p class="normal">The approach of the storm had been observed by the people in the +garden, and most of the guests had been prudent enough to embark on the +steamboat which had just left, and was now half-way over to Starnberg. +But by the time Felix had joined his friends again it was too late for +them to choose this shorter way. Besides, Rossel's villa was a good +deal nearer than the Starnberg station, and Rosenbusch, who always had +his head full of adventures, was already dreaming of the improvised +quarters for the night, which should be prepared for the ladies in the +dining-room. He took very good care, however, not to give utterance to +these romantic projects, but merely urged a hasty departure, in order +that they might escape the rain.</p> + +<p class="normal">When they reached the landing-place, they found Schnetz and his party +engaged in an annoying scene.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young boatman who had rowed them over flatly refused to start on +the return trip, in view of the storm that threatened to break upon +them at any moment. The boat was too heavily loaded to get over the +water quickly, and his master had given him a bad pair of oars, the +good ones having been sent off with another boat early in the morning. +The gentlemen might offer him what they liked, but he would not make +the trip; he knew what he was saying, and what it meant "when the lake +and the sky came so near together."</p> + +<p class="normal">One of the young gentlemen was addressing the lad--who was a +neatly-dressed young fellow, and wished, perhaps, to spare his Sunday +clothes--in rough and imperious tones, commanding him to obey without +further parley, and to leave the responsibility to them. The lake was +as smooth as a mirror, and there was so little wind that the storm +might very likely be an hour in reaching them. But when, upon the +boatman's remaining obstinate, he tried to wrench the oar from the +defiant fellow's hand, saying that, if a lout like him had no pluck, he +might at least get out of the way and take himself to the devil--all +the man's pent-up fury and insulted <i>amour propre</i> burst out; with an +angry answer in the most forcible epithets of his country dialect, he +threw the oar at the young count's feet, took his jacket out of the +boat, and, with a malicious grin, wishing the company a pleasant +journey, started off toward the highway which winds along by the +lake-shore.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The thunder-storm comes just right for him," said the waiter-girl, who +had been attracted to the spot by the quarrel, and who now stood gazing +after the angry fellow as he hurried away. "The ladies and gentlemen +mustn't think that Hiesl had started to run back to his father's on +foot; he knew well enough there was going to be a wedding celebrated in +Ambach, and had been impatient to get there for some time; for the +red-haired waiter-girl in the tavern there had completely turned his +head, and all because she wouldn't have anything to do with him--though +he would marry her on the spot if she would take him, and he was not +one to be sneezed at either, and was earning a good living too. So he +had caught at the pretext that the storm would be upon them before the +party could get back to Starnberg again, and was on his way as fast as +his legs would carry him, so as to get to Ambach, which was nearly an +hour from here, with a dry skin. Oh! these men!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She seemed to think it very foolish for him to run so far, when he +could find all he wanted close at hand. But in reply to their question, +whether there really was so much danger of the storm, she gave the most +comforting assurances; it might not reach them for several hours yet, +and, very likely, if a wind should spring up it would pass over +altogether.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young count, who now regarded it as a matter of honor to undertake +the trip and to outshine the obstinate boor by his superior skill as a +boatman, allayed all the old countess's doubts and fears; and the young +people did not shrink from a trifling lake-storm, particularly as +Schnetz, who was filled with horror at the bare thought of staying here +overnight, declared that there was not the slightest reason for +anxiety. He himself would take charge of the tiller as he had done when +they came out, and in half an hour they would undoubtedly be landed +safe and sound at the opposite bank.</p> + +<p class="normal">The whole scene had taken place so near the spot where the artists and +their companions stood, that not a word had escaped them. They were, +however, in even less of a humor to let themselves be frightened by the +distant growling of the heavens, and had already rowed out quite a +little distance into the lake before the more aristocratic boat shoved +off from shore. Felix bent to his oar with redoubled energy in order to +put as much water as possible between himself and his beloved enemy, +and it looked as though they would reach the opposite shore in half the +time usually needed for the passage.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nevertheless, it was strange that on this return voyage such a deep +silence should have succeeded to the high spirits with which they had +first rowed over. Even Rosenbusch said nothing, but contented himself +with casting the most eloquent glances at his sweetheart, who now sat +silent and pensive, with her head resting on her sister's shoulder. +Elfinger and his beloved looked away from one another down into the +dark water; and only Aunt Babette gave a little scream from time to +time when a vivid flash of lightning tore zigzag through the blue-black +clouds, and illuminated the woods on the bank in a green, ghastly +glare.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young nobleman in the other boat pulled a good oar. He was a +handsome, chivalrous young fellow, who certainly did not deserve the +contempt with which Schnetz had spoken of him. In order that the ladies +who had intrusted themselves to his care might be landed in safety as +soon as possible, he sought to overtake the other boat, in spite of its +lead. But his powerful exertions came to an end in a very unexpected +way. One of the oars, rotten with age, suddenly broke short off in the +middle; and at the same instant the first gust of wind swept with a +melancholy howl across the surface of the lake, which, as if +transformed by the touch of a magician's wand, began suddenly to surge +like a miniature raging ocean.</p> + +<p class="normal">Schnetz rose from his seat at the tiller.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I entreat the ladies not to prove false to the coolness they have thus +far shown, because of this little accident," he said. "We could +undoubtedly get across even without a second oar. But to have one will +be better. I will inquire of my artist friends over yonder if they +haven't one to spare."</p> + +<p class="normal">He wore a little metal whistle, suspended by a green cord from a button +on his waistcoat. With this he piped a sort of boatswain's signal.</p> + +<p class="normal">Elfinger started. "That is Roland's call!" he said, seriously. "What +can he want of us?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix raised his oar from the water; the two boats approached one +another.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ladies and gentlemen," said Schnetz, "allow me, first of all, to make +you acquainted with one another, as well as such a thing can be done on +such a rocking floor, and without the customary bows. I have the honor, +ladies, to introduce you to my friend Baron Felix von Weiblingen, who +has just deserted a diplomatic career for the liberal arts, and, as you +perceive, knows how to handle the oar as skillfully as the chisel and +modeling-tool. Herr Graf ----, Herr Baron ----, Messieurs Rosenbusch +and Elfinger--the ladies, I understand, are already known to one +another. Look here, baron, can't you help us out with an oar? One of +ours has come to grief. We have suffered a slight shipwreck."</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix stood up. Although the waves rocked the little boat violently, +his slender, powerful figure stood out strong and erect against the +black, stormy sky. At the approach of danger he had recovered all his +coolness and confidence, qualities which he had often enough had a +chance to test in his adventurous journeyings through the solitudes of +the New World. Even the face opposite him in the other boat, the pale +oval framed by the hood of a gray cloak from beneath which straggled a +brown lock--even the glance of those eyes, which preferred to gaze down +into the dark, tempestuous depths rather than to meet his--nothing +could shake his coolness now when the time had come for him to show +himself master of the moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We carry a few extra oars with us, it is true," he shouted back, +raising his voice, for the storm began to howl louder and louder. "But +I should prefer to help you with them in our own boat--Elfinger is an +excellent oarsman--and to fasten your craft to ours. Then we will take +you in tow, and the passage will be much safer and quicker; for your +boat is a flat-bottomed, badly-built affair, without keel or cut-water, +and all you gentlemen are in it for the first time."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Agreed!" roared Schnetz in return. "Let us connect ourselves with our +<i>remorqueur</i> with all possible speed, and then <i>vogue la galère!</i>"</p> + +<p class="normal">Rossel's well-equipped craft had, fortunately, a good supply of ropes +at hand, so that Kohle, from his seat at the stern, soon drew the +drifting boat up to his own and made it fast with a firm knot. Then +Felix and Elfinger bent to their oars, and their four strong arms +seemed to drive the two boats as if in sport over the raging surface of +the water.</p> + +<p class="normal">Not a word was spoken in either vessel. To the countess's whispered +question to Irene: whether this young baron belonged to the well-known +Weiblingens in D----, there came no answer. The young countess had +grown as pale as her high-colored complexion would permit. Her cousin +sought to conceal his ill-humor at the accident, by trying to light a +cigar; but the wind was too much for him. In the first boat, too, a +breathless silence reigned. Rosenbusch alone bent over from time to +time, and whispered a few words to his blonde sweetheart, but they were +lost forever in the storm. The gale raged above their heads with +increasing fury, lightning and thunder burst almost continuously from +the black clouds, and the blast, as it whirled the tumult through the +sky, seemed so violent that the clouds had no time to dissolve in rain. +All around the shore lay wrapped in darkness, and in the south, where +gusts of rain mingled the sky and lake together, every trace of the +mountain line had disappeared.</p> + +<p class="normal">Suddenly Felix's voice made itself heard at the extreme end of the +little flotilla: "I think it advisable, Schnetz, for us to change our +course. Otherwise we shall tire ourselves out pulling against this +head-wind without making any progress westward. In spite of all our +exertions, we haven't reached the middle of the lake yet, and, as we +may expect a deluge at any moment, I would propose, in the interest of +the ladies, that we turn about and try to reach the land quickly at any +price. What do you say?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That we have no voice whatever in the matter!" Schnetz shouted back. +"In a storm the captain commands upon his own responsibility! and with +that, enough said!"</p> + +<p class="normal">A strong shove of the tiller showed that Kohle had decided in favor of +silent obedience. The good effects of the change were felt immediately; +for now the two boats, sailing with the current and the wind, skimmed +as though with wings over the high waves.</p> + +<p class="normal">But they already had been driven too far toward the south to reach +their old harbor again. When they had approached near enough to the +bank to distinguish trees and houses, they saw a scene which they did +not recognize--an inn close upon the lake, from whose windows streamed +a bright light and the merry sound of dance-music.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We have arrived just in time for the wedding," growled Schnetz. "If we +don't go to the devil first, we can while away the time by dancing--the +best way to get rid of all the bad effects of our fright. May I have +the honor, countess, of engaging you for a cotillion?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The old lady, who had been suffering the keenest alarm, and had +secretly made all sorts of vows to her patron saints, drew a long +breath of relief, and said, laughing nervously: "If anything had +happened to us, <i>mon cher</i> Schnetz, your godlessness would have been to +blame for sending so many good people to the bottom. Well, <i>Dieu soit +loué, nous voilà sains et saufs.</i> Melanie, your hair is atrociously +disordered. How have you borne it, my dear Irene?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was not afraid. Still I shall be glad to get on shore."</p> + +<p class="normal">And, indeed, just at this moment, the rain-drops began to fall one by +one on the broad surface of the lake.</p> + +<p class="normal">Another quarter of an hour of vigorous work at the oars and the +foremost boat passed through the surf of the flat shore and ran up on +the beach. Felix sprang on shore and helped out the sisters and the +godmother. When it came to the turn of the party in the other boat, he +left to his friends the duty of setting the ladies ashore dry-shod, +while he busied himself in fastening the two boats to posts upon the +bank.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old countess came up to him, overflowing with earnest assurances of +her gratitude, which he politely put aside. Upon her presently +repeating her inquiry about his family, he dryly replied:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I come from beyond the sea, countess, and have left my family tree in +the backwoods. But you will get wet if you stay out here any longer. My +friend, Herr Koble, will have the honor of conducting you into the +house. It is well known that a captain must not leave his ship until it +lies safe at anchor."</p> + +<p class="normal">The good lady wondered to herself that a young man, who seemed to be so +<i>comme il faut</i>, should relinquish the honor of becoming her knight to +a <i>bourgeois</i>. But as she was rather confused and helpless, and did not +exactly know where to look for her son and son-in-law, she accepted the +painter's arm with condescending amiability, and, turning around every +instant to see that her daughter was following, she hastened toward the +house, in which the music had not ceased for a moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">Schnetz had taken possession of the two sisters, and the young count +approached Irene to conduct her into the house. But she declined his +proffered arm with a gesture of thanks, wrapped herself closer in her +cloak, and hastened after the others.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had not looked around at Felix, but at the threshold she hesitated. +Perhaps her beating heart was secretly whispering to her to turn, rush +into the storm and rain, and call to the lonely man upon the shore.</p> + +<p class="normal">Just at this moment her cousin turned to her with some casual question, +laid a hand upon her arm, and drew her across the hall into the guests' +room. She threw back her head with such a hasty movement, that her hood +fell off. Her young face, which she had learned only too well how to +keep under control, became cold and stern, and the moment which might +have broken the ice passed away unused.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Nor had Felix looked around at Irene. And yet he knew exactly when she +entered the door, and vanished into the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">His work on the shore had long been completed. The two boats were +fastened securely to their chains, and the heavy surf bumped their +wooden sides against one another with a dull, monotonous sound. It was +by no means pleasant here in the rain. The drops fell thicker and +faster; leaves and twigs were torn from the trees near the boathouse, +and sent whirling far and wide. And yet this lonely man here in the +storm could not even now make up his mind to seek refuge in the house, +which stood before him with its bright windows looking so hospitable +and cozy, and protecting a crowd of happy beings from the furies of the +gale.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was just considering whether he should not retreat, into one of the +boats which, lying under the roof of the boat-house, would at least +offer him a dry place of refuge, when a vivid flash of lightning lit +up the darkness around, and in the next instant, even before the +thunder-clap had time to follow, he heard a scoffing laugh, not far +away. He saw now that he was not quite alone. On the bridge of the +steamboat-landing, which was built on piles and ran out for some +distance into the lake, stood the young boatman who, an hour before, +had foretold the storm, and had refused to make the return journey. As +if he felt at home amid this whirlwind, he stood there in his +shirtsleeves, his jacket thrown over his shoulder, bareheaded, smoking +a short pipe, and leaning upon the railing of the bridge. His eyes were +fixed with an evil, piercing fire upon Felix, whom he had probably +mistaken for the young count because he had been busied with the boats. +As soon as the noise of the thunder had died away, he burst out anew in +a loud, scoffing laugh. "So Hiesl is a stupid boor, and doesn't know +anything--not even his own business? He ought to learn it from the city +gentlemen? Ha, ha, ha! I only wish you had had all the flesh washed off +your bones. Ha, ha, ha! Well, look sharp now, and carry the thing +through. It's just jolly inside there, and perhaps next time Heaven +will have sense enough to--"</p> + +<p class="normal">The howling of the storm drowned the rest of his speech. Felix had a +sharp reply on the tip of his tongue, with which to rebuke the fellow, +and at the same time to show him that he had made a mistake in the +person. But now the tempest broke in such a terrible deluge of rain +that he was absolutely deprived of sight and hearing, and had to grope +his way to reach the house with a tolerably dry skin.</p> + +<p class="normal">The heavy house-door was torn from its chain by the storm, and closed +behind him with a deafening crash. In the lower entry a number of +people sat at little tables hung on hinges along the wall, and just +large enough to hold the plates and beer-mugs. A country waiting-maid, +who was coming out of the kitchen, told Felix that his party were +up-stairs dancing, and asked whether he wanted anything. He silently +shook his head, and slowly ascended the stairs; not with the intention +of joining his friends, but merely to find where she was, and which +room of the house it would be necessary for him to avoid.</p> + +<p class="normal">Not a soul was to be seen in the dimly-lighted hall above; but all the +doors stood open on account of the heat, and poured forth a mixture of +lamp-light, smoke, and noise, while the floor creaked under the regular +tread of the dancers, and the air trembled with the surly grumbling of +a gigantic bass-viol. The dancing-hall lay at the extreme end of the +corridor. Felix walked along it without looking into any of the other +rooms until he reached the end door, where he found that, by standing +behind the spectators, he could comfortably overlook all that was going +on within. The bridegroom seemed to be a young forester, and his bride +a burgher's daughter from the city. Consequently, the whole affair had +a certain something about it which distinguished it favorably from +ordinary country weddings, and the couples spun around through the +spacious hall in quite an orderly fashion, and without the customary +shouting, screaming, and romping, to the music of several stringed +instruments, a solitary clarionet, and the occasional sound of a +woodman's horn.</p> + +<p class="normal">The first couple that Felix made out through the blue mist of +tobacco-smoke was Rosenbusch with his Nanny. And, to his surprise, he +saw Elfinger and his sweetheart waltzing gracefully close behind them; +and the future bride of heaven seemed to abandon herself without much +resistance to this worldly pleasure.</p> + +<p class="normal">And now even the young countess herself appeared amid this mixed +company, whirled by the young baron, her betrothed, far more rapidly +than would have been good <i>ton</i> at a court ball. Her brother, the +count, stood in a retired corner, apparently paying his court to Aunt +Babette, who would not let herself be seduced into dancing again for +any price in the world. In the adjoining room, which he could only half +overlook, he perceived his friend Kohle, absorbed in an earnest +conversation with the countess.</p> + +<p class="normal">No trace of Irene anywhere! Could she have hidden from him? It was +hardly possible that she could be in the other rooms, where the more +elderly relatives of the bridal couple sat, eating and talking. And yet +he must know whither she had gone, in order to spare her another +painful meeting.</p> + +<p class="normal">A waiting-maid entering through one of the open doors just at this +moment, he determined to ask her about the Fräulein. But when he called +to the tidy-looking girl, and she turned her head toward him, a +half-joyful, half-embarrassed cry of surprise escaped them both. A +little more and the girl would have let the mugs fall from her hands. +Trembling and blushing she put down her load on a chair, and covered +her face with her hands.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What a queer place to meet <i>you</i> in, Zenz!" said Felix, going up to +her kindly and holding out his hand. "How long have you been here? But +you don't know me any longer!--or won't you give me your hand because +you are angry with me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl stood motionless, leaning against the wall and deeply flushed, +her hands outstretched, with the fingers wide-spread as if in +supplication. She was dressed much more daintily than the waiter-girls +down-stairs; her thick red hair, hanging in two heavy braids down her +back, was wound around with a little string of corals, and her arms +were bare to the elbow. Her charming figure showed to advantage in its +short dress and tight-fitting bodice, and a little rose in her bosom +set off the whiteness of her neckerchief and of her little coquettish +waitress's apron. It was no wonder she found suitors enough out here in +the country, and could play the prude toward the young boatman.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, Zenz," Felix began again, for she still remained silent, "is it +all over with our old friendship? You ran away from me once so +treacherously, you naughty child--I searched every corner for you--but +I bear you no malice on that score. Look here, perhaps you can tell +me what has become of the young Fräulein?--the tall one with the +water-proof? She is not with the others."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know the one you mean well enough," the girl answered, suddenly +growing quite unembarrassed, for he behaved so coolly and seemed to +have forgotten all the past. "You mean the handsome one who has +something distinguished about her, more than all the rest. She couldn't +stand it long in the hot rooms, but had a chamber given her up-stairs, +so as to be all alone, for she had such a terrible headache, she said. +Do you know her? But of course you do; you came with the party. Why, I +shouldn't wonder if she were your--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She broke off and peered in his face, with a sly look. Something of her +old frivolity flickered up in it; but then she scornfully curled her +lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For all I care!" she said, shrugging her shoulders. "What difference +does it make to me who your sweetheart is? Go up the stairs there and +knock at No. 17. You will find what you are looking for."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Zenz," he answered, with a troubled look, "you are very much mistaken +if you think--But tell me, first of all, how you have been, and whether +you like the life out here better than in the city, and whether I can +help you in any way?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He felt the necessity of showing his friendliness in some way or other +to this good creature, whose devotion he had so coldly repulsed, that +he might efface the painful remembrance from her mind. She seemed to +feel this, and to be grateful for it. A soft blush--no longer of +embarrassment, but of joy--mounted to her cheeks.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do I like it here?" she said, laughing. "Oh, pretty well so far. +The people of the house treat me very well, and if I do my duty, what +do I care for any one else? Only it's just a little dull and lonely +here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I imagine there is no lack of people, Zenz, who would be glad to help +you while away the time if you would only let them."</p> + +<p class="normal">She did not answer at once, but listened in the direction of the +stairs, where some one had just crept up and had stopped half-way as if +to listen. There was a pause in the music, and any one standing on the +dark stairway could not have helped hearing every word that was spoken +on the landing above. The girl's face assumed a slighting, contemptuous +expression. She seemed to know who was standing there on the watch, and +purposely raised her voice so as to give the listener the full benefit +of what she said.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you, too, heard that gossip?" she said. "Well, if any one ever +says to you again that Zenz has got a lover here, give him my best +regards and tell him he is a mean liar. I know very well that the +waiter-girl in Leoni says all sorts of bad things about me because +Hiesl, the fisherman, who used to keep company with her, tries to pay +court to me. But, though I am only a poor girl, I am a hundred times +too good for such a wild fellow as he is, going about on every holiday +picking quarrels, and spending all his money on drinking and bowling. +Just think of it, that little Spanish knife I took from your table that +time by mistake--or rather not by mistake--I really believe, may God +forgive me, I would have liked best to kill myself, I felt so wild and +unhappy that night!--well, I have carried it about with me ever since; +I used to wear it stuck in my bodice instead of the spoon which, as a +waiter-girl, I ought to have carried, and it's not a week ago that I +told Hiesl my opinion of him once for all, and he grew so furious that +he snatched the knife away from me, and cried out 'to remember him if +anything happened,' or something of that kind. But I laughed, and said +unless he gave it back to me something <i>would</i> happen, for I would +complain of him to the police. <i>He</i> my lover! Well, I <i>should</i> be a +fool! Besides, I don't want any lover at all; it always ends in the +girl's being deceived; and the one she can get she doesn't like, and +the one she likes she can't get. And now let me go, Herr Baron, the +ladies and gentlemen inside are waiting, and you must go and pay your +court to the Fräulein. Why should you waste your time out here with a +waitress?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She made a movement as if to take up her mugs again, but without +hurrying herself particularly.</p> + +<p class="normal">Just at this moment the music struck up again, playing a cheerful but +not very lively waltz, apparently with the purpose of inviting the more +elderly guests to join the dance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Zenz," said Felix, looking her straight in the face, "I don't care +anything about the Fräuleins inside there; and, besides, I don't feel +in a mood for love-making. As soon as the storm is over, I am going off +without taking leave. If any one asks after me, you need only say that +I wanted to be in Starnberg in time to catch the last train. But first +I want to know whether I can't do you a favor of any kind, or get +something for you in the city, or whether you have any wish that a good +friend could fulfill for you? Speak out, Zenz! I am so unhappy myself +that I would like, at least, to give a little bit of happiness to some +one else."</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked searchingly in his face, as if to see whether he was in +earnest. She could not understand why he should not be happy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know," said she, at last, "if what you said was not meant as a +joke, I have a wish, and there is nothing so very terrible about it +either--I would like to dance with you, just once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To dance with me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I know well enough what is proper, and that a waiter-girl +shouldn't mix among the wedding-guests unless it happens to be a +peasant's wedding. But to be always hearing this beautiful music, that +makes you tingle down to the tips of your toes, and yet never to be +allowed to swing round with the rest, is very hard. I only mean that it +is almost the same out here in the entry as in the hall--you can hear +every note and the floor is smooth and clean. Will you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He still hesitated. He certainly felt in no mood for dancing. But when +she suddenly put out her hand with a quick movement to seize her mugs, +as if she interpreted his hesitation to mean that, after all, he felt +himself too good to be her partner, he could not find it in his heart +to let her go away from him a second time feeling mortified and +insulted.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right, child," he said. "Let us dance. A man needn't be +particularly merry to have dancing feet. Come! But you must show me how +they do it here in the country."</p> + +<p class="normal">He put his arm round her slight and yielding figure, and she clung to +it with evident pleasure. "It goes splendidly," she whispered, after +the first round. "I feel as if I were being lifted up into heaven. Do +you remember how you put me on your horse, that time? Good Heavens! how +long ago that seems, and yet it's only a few weeks!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He did not answer, but went on dancing, rather gravely and seriously; +for it was no easy task to move easily up and down through the long, +narrow entry. And all the while he felt that his partner clung to him +more and more tenderly, while he himself remained perfectly cool; and +it was only when it seemed to him that they had had enough, and he had +released the girl from his arms again, in front of the chair on which +her beer-mugs stood, that he stroked her round face caressingly and +said: "Was that right, little one?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She trembled slightly, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of +the stairs which led to the upper story. Suddenly she pushed him from +her, whispered "Thank you," and, quickly seizing her mugs, ran past him +and down the stairs.</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked after her in surprise. What was it that had transformed this +girl so suddenly? A sudden suspicion arose within him. He rushed toward +the stairs, and peered up into the darkness. There was no longer +anything to be seen. But he heard a light footstep up above creeping +softly across the entry, and immediately afterward the latch of a door +was heard to fall, and a key was turned in the lock.</p> + +<p class="normal">A cold shiver passed over him, as the thought suddenly flashed across +him that this must have been she. She had started to go and join the +company, and had turned back when half-way down the stairs, in order +not to disturb his dance with a waiting-maid--!</p> + +<p class="normal">The discovery was so crushing that he remained standing motionless in +the middle of the corridor, and heard and saw nothing of what was going +on around him. He was finally roused from his stupor by one of the +wedding-guests, who, in stumbling past, struck against him with no +little force. He slowly felt his way down-stairs, passed across the +lower hall, and stepped out into the open air in a truly pitiable state +of mind.</p> + +<p class="normal">The storm had passed, but the air still trembled from the shock, and +now and then a drop fell from the roof, or the distant reflection of +the fading lightning flashed across the clear sky. The mountains stood +out on the horizon like light, sharply-defined clouds, and the +reflection of the stars danced up and down upon the waves, which seemed +to keep up the turmoil longer than anything else, and still surged +darkly on the shore.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix went down to the bank, and walked to the extreme end of the +landing-pier. In the commotion of his thoughts, he found it impossible +to decide as to the course he should pursue. Should he at once seek an +interview with her, and explain how it had all come about--this +inconceivable, unheard-of, unpardonable scene? That after such a +painful meeting he had not scorned to flirt with a waiter-girl; that he +intended anything rather than to play a defiant and indifferent <i>rôle</i>; +that only a series of most unfortunate circumstances--but how could he +explain to her what it was that had induced him to behave so tenderly +toward the poor creature? And would she listen to him at all, for that +matter? After all, it seemed as if it would be better for him to write. +But even that would only help him out of the last phase of this +serio-comic dilemma. What was to guard him from a repetition of similar +scenes, if he continued to remain anywhere near her?</p> + +<p class="normal">He stood for a long time leaning over the railing of the bridge, +staring down into the restless, surging waves, lost in wild thoughts, +while through the open window the clarionet squeaked and the bass-viol +growled, as though there were none but happy people in all the world.</p> + +<p class="normal">At last, making a violent effort, he roused himself. He was determined +to avoid meeting a human face at any price, and to make his way to +Starnberg on foot.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, as he turned round, he saw behind him, planted in the middle of +the narrow way, a dark figure, which he immediately recognized as that +of Hiesl, the boatman. In his face, which he could plainly distinguish +in spite of the darkness, he could read the bitterest enmity. Besides, +the fellow had spread his legs, and thrust out his elbows, as if to +obstruct the way, and now stood grinning impudently in his face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Fine weather, Herr Graf," he cried, hoarsely and thickly. "Quite fine +again for taking a walk, alone or with a single companion. I suppose +you won't be left alone long--ha, ha, ha! She'll probably get away from +the wedding soon, so as to dance a little while with the Herr Graf, all +alone by yourselves--ha, ha, ha!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Get out of the way, fellow!" cried Felix, stepping close up to him. +"If you are seeking a quarrel, you will find you have hit on the wrong +man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The wrong man?" blurted out the peasant, who coolly remained standing +where he was, and merely folded his arms across his breast. "That would +be a joke; if I couldn't see who the right man is, two feet off. You +are a count, and I am only a stupid country lout--isn't that the way? +And Zenz dances with you, and hangs on your neck, and turns her back on +me. So now, you see, I know all about it; I'm sober, too, and +understand my business as well as the next man. If the Herr Count would +perhaps like to row out upon the lake with the girl, Hiesl would +consider it an honor to provide a boat for his high-mightiness's +pleasure; and if the stupid country lout has to hold the light for the +Herr Count--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Out of my way, you fool!" cried Felix, now angry in his turn at the +jealous fellow's crazy attack. "If you touch me with a finger, I'll +break every bone in your body. I don't understand a word of what you +have been raving about. The waiter-girl isn't my sweetheart, and if it +will give you any satisfaction, you can wait and see whether she will +steal out here to meet me. If you had your five senses about you, and +hadn't left your eyes behind in your beer-mug, you would see that I am +not your Herr Count. So get on! I'm in no humor to stand any more +nonsense!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The peasant made no answer, nor did he laugh any more; but stared +straight in Felix's face, and stood like a post. And now when Felix +stepped forward to pass by, he suddenly felt himself seized around the +waist and violently pushed back. The blood rushed madly to his +forehead. "You blackguard!" he cried, "if you will have it, you shall."</p> + +<p class="normal">He struck his adversary in the chest with such force that for a moment +the sturdy fellow's arms relaxed their hold. But the next instant he +felt himself grasped again and forced back to the edge of the wharf, +where the posts projected out of the water as high as a man's head, and +the water itself was deep enough to give plenty of room for the +steamer's keel.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You or I," gasped the furious peasant. "You or I! If she won't have +me, she sha'n't have you either, you damned city puppy!" He struggled +with renewed fury to push his enemy over the railing. But Felix was on +his guard. By a quick push he gained the shore side again, and forced +his opponent back almost to the last plank. For a moment the battle +paused. The next instant Felix felt a violent stab; a sharp-pointed +instrument had been thrust into him under the armpit between his breast +and shoulder, so that his left arm dropped paralyzed by his side.</p> + +<p class="normal">He felt at once that he was seriously wounded, and a terrible fury +seized upon him. "Murderer!" he cried; "you cowardly ruffian, you shall +pay for this!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Exerting all his strength, he threw the fellow to the ground, seized +his throat so firmly with his right hand that he could do nothing but +gasp, and would have strangled him had not the man, who had suddenly +become sober, and who was lying on the very edge of the wharf, been +crafty enough to draw the supple Spanish blade, with all his force, +across the hand that was choking him. The moment the bloody hand +released his throat, he slid over the edge of the wharf and immediately +vanished in the lake below.</p> + +<p class="normal">The dull, splashing noise of the fall suddenly brought the victor to +his senses. But he felt absolutely indifferent about the fellow's +rising again and gaining the shore. He had no other feeling than one of +disgust at this wild struggle in such a wretched cause. And now, when +he found himself alone on the high wharf, a cold shudder passed over +him, as if he had just shaken off a mad dog and hurled him into the +water. He peered down into the lake and then tried to laugh; but +shuddered anew at his own voice, that sounded so strange to him. Then, +too, the squeaking, idiotic clarionet and the comfortably grunting +bass-viol kept sounding in his ears;--what a world, in which all this +could be huddled so close together! Then, leaning on the railing, over +which the blood from his hand was trickling, he raised himself up, and +was conscious now, for the first time, of a piercing pain in his +shoulder. But his legs still bore him. Away, only away! was all he +thought. The resolution he had previously formed, before the murderous +fellow came in his way, rose clearly before his mind again, to hasten +to Starnberg, from there back to the city, from the city to the ends of +the earth. Only away! without looking back--no matter what was left +behind him!</p> + +<p class="normal">He took a few steps away from the wharf, in the direction of the road. +But he had not gone far when he lost consciousness, his knees gave way +beneath him, and he fell senseless on the rain-soaked earth.</p> + +<p class="normal">A moment after the house-door was opened, and Schnetz stepped out into +the open air, followed by Kohle, bearing a large umbrella. The old +countess had begged them to go out and see whether the return trip +might now be taken without danger. They themselves were anxious to +escape as soon as possible from the stifling, sultry tumult of the +wedding festival; while the others, who had caught the dancing fever, +did not appear to notice how the hours had slipped away.</p> + +<p class="normal">Schnetz cast but a single glance at the heavens, and then said, with +the confidence of an old soldier who has reconnoitred a hostile region: +"It's all right. We may give the signal for breaking camp. But first we +must take a look at the boats. What's become of the baron? Did you +notice, Kohle, that during the whole trip he has been in a mood like +that of a cat in a thunder-storm, for all he pretended to be so quiet? +<i>Nom d'un nom!</i> I wish--"</p> + +<p class="normal">The word died on his lips. For just at that moment he caught sight of +him of whom he spoke, lying lifeless on the damp ground. He bent over +him in horror, and called him by his name. When no sound came in +answer, and only the pool of blood in which he lay gave sign of what +had happened, he quickly recovered his presence of mind and coolly +weighed the situation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's no medical assistance to be had in this hole," he said; "we +must row him over to Fat Rossel's villa, and send at once for the +Starnberg doctor, who fortunately is said to be a skillful man. What +are you sniveling in that wretched fashion for, Kohle? He isn't going +to die on the spot. In Africa I've seen a man pull through far worse +cases than this. Pluck up your spirits, man, and before all things +don't make a noise. Not a soul must know of this until we are safely in +our boat. We must take Rossel's boat for us three alone, so that he can +lie at full length; how the others will get home is their own lookout. +The young gentlemen will undoubtedly know how to help themselves out of +the scrape."</p> + +<p class="normal">He tore a leaf from his note-book, and wrote a few words upon it. "So, +give that to Red Zenz, the waiter-girl. She appears to me to be a +plucky sort of person who doesn't lose her head easily. She is not to +give the note to the young baroness, who is the only person here to +whom I owe an explanation, until we have embarked. Make haste, Kohle, +make haste. Meantime I'll be making a bed in the boat."</p> + +<p class="normal">In five minutes Philip Emanuel came running back again, with Zenz +following close at his heels. She did not speak a word, for Kohle had +enjoined the strictest silence upon her, but her face was as white as +chalk; and when she saw the wounded man she fell on her knees beside +him and groaned aloud.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be quiet," commanded the lieutenant; "this is no time for whimpering. +Have you got a piece of linen, girl? We must make a bandage."</p> + +<p class="normal">Still remaining on her knees, she tore off her white apron and the +kerchief round her neck. It was only when Schnetz had hastily bound up +the shoulder and the wound in the hand, and, with Kohle's aid, had +carefully borne the unconscious form into the boat, that she raised +herself from the ground and followed the men to the shore.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am going with you," she said softly, but very decidedly. "I must go +with you. I gave the note to the other waiter-girl; she will see that +it is delivered. For Christ's sake, let me go with you! Who else is +there to take care of him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nonsense!" growled Schnetz; "he won't need any care on the way over, +and on the other side there is help enough. What are you thinking of, +girl? You can't run away from service in this free-and-easy way."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who is to hinder me?" she said, laughing defiantly in the midst of all +her anxiety and wretchedness. "I belong to no one. I tell you I will go +with you, if it were only to hold his head on my lap on the way, so +that he would lie softer. If you won't take me with you--there's an old +dug-out over there--I'll row after you as true as my name is Zenz. I +must hear what the doctor says, and whether he will live."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then come along, in the devil's name, you witch; but no shrieking and +bawling. Get into the boat, Kohle; so, lift him carefully now--and you, +girl, take a seat in the middle. It's true, it won't do any harm if he +has something softer under his head than this bundle of sticks."</p> + +<p class="normal">A few minutes more and the slender boat pushed off from the shore. +Schnetz rowed and Kohle sat at the tiller again; but, instead of the +merry company that had occupied these same seats but a few hours +before, amusing themselves with singing and flute-playing, there now +lay on the bottom of the boat a white, silent passenger, with closed +eyes; and at his head crouched a pale girl, who, from time to time, +silently dried with her long red locks the heavy drops of blood which +oozed out from under the bandages. Her head was sunk upon her breast. +The others must not see how the big tear-drops coursed steadily down +her cheeks.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Up-stairs, in a bare, meanly-furnished room of the tavern, lay Irene.</p> + +<p class="normal">The dim beams of the setting sun shone in through the little +window-panes, which were still dripping from the rain, but did not +penetrate to the sofa where the poor girl cowered in an agony of grief, +covering her face with her hands and vainly trying to close her ears so +tightly with the folds of her hood that she should not hear the music +of the waltz below. The walls and floors of the lightly-built upper +story groaned under the regular step of the dance. Never in all her +life, she thought, had she been more wretched and miserable, not even +in those gloomy days before she resolved to write Felix a letter of +farewell. Then there was still a certain greatness, dignity, and +harmony left both within and about her; now her condition was painful +and revolting to a degree that seemed almost pitiably ridiculous.</p> + +<p class="normal">She, lying up here in torture; and he down below in the best of +spirits, whirling about with a waiter-girl in his arms, to the music of +a peasant's orchestra--not among the other wedding-guests even, but +apart, secretly, in the way one only dances when one is very much in +the mood for it, or very much in love! She did not even have the +consolation of thinking he had done this merely out of defiance to her, +out of secret lovesickness and grief. He could not possibly have had a +suspicion that she would come down and surprise him at his dance; that +she would see how tightly the girl clung to him, and how reluctantly +she finally released herself from his arms.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had flown up-stairs as if pursued by a ghost, had pushed the bolt +to behind her with trembling hands, and had thrown herself on the hard +little sofa, and shut her eyes and bowed her head as if now the death +blow might fall at any moment. And down below, the jovial bassviol +hummed and buzzed, and the clarionet abandoned itself to the most +extravagant passages.</p> + +<p class="normal">For the moment she hated this man, whom heretofore, through all their +separation, she had mourned over as one does over a dead friend, who, +though lost, is still dear forever. When she thought that the hand +which had once caressed her had stroked the chin of this coarse +red-haired girl, a pang of bitter aversion shot through her heart, as +if she felt herself humiliated and dishonored by the mere association. +She shed no tears, but only because her pride rose up in all its +strength against such a proceeding. And yet she had to bite into the +silk lining of her hood with her little teeth in order to suppress her +sobbing and restrain her weeping.</p> + +<p class="normal">She felt that she must take some step to put an end to this unbearable +state of things; that she must start the very next morning on the +Italian journey which had been so unfortunately postponed. But to-day, +now, when before all else she must avoid meeting him again, she must +escape from this mad-house where she stood in positive danger of going +crazy herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">Just then a knock was heard at the door. She sprang to her feet in +alarm. If it should be he? if he had come, perhaps, to justify himself +to her; to excuse his outrageous behavior?</p> + +<p class="normal">She was incapable of uttering a sound; and, even after the knock had +been repeated a second time, she was unable to ask who was there. It +was only when she heard the voice of the waiter-girl, who called +through the door that she had a message to deliver to the Fräulein, +that she found strength to drag herself with trembling knees to the +door, and open it. She took a note from the girl's hand, shook her head +quickly in reply to the question whether she wanted a light, and bolted +the door in the face of the hastily-dismissed messenger, who would have +been glad of a chance to talk a little.</p> + +<p class="normal">There was light enough at the window for her to decipher the martial +handwriting of the lieutenant.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">"My friend has suddenly been taken very ill. I must transport him to +Rossel's villa without delay. Please to excuse my desertion to the +other ladies. Commending myself to the indulgence of my noble young +mistress, I remain, in the most devoted haste,</p> + +<p class="right">"<span class="sc">Schnetz</span>."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">"My friend"--she knew that no other could be meant than Felix; and yet +this news, which, at any other time, would have given her a deadly +shock, came to her now like a release from the bitterest torture. Would +she not bear anything rather than know that he was happy after the +wrong he had done her? Might not the outrageous scene she had just +witnessed be explained as coming from a freak of fever--from a last +flaring-up of his spirits before the final breaking-down? Then, in +spite of all, he was still worthy of her secret thoughts--ay, she even +owed him some apology, and could grieve for him, and show him that +sympathy which we owe to all who are in suffering.</p> + +<p class="normal">A heavy weight fell from her heart. She read the note a second time. +"Rossel's villa?"--that lay only half an hour's walk from theirs. She +might get news before the evening was over. Schnetz would very likely +come himself and tell her.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, while she was absorbed in such thoughts, she let her eyes sweep +across the lake, and saw the boat, rowed by Schnetz and Kohle, just +pushing off from the shore. The twilight was still bright enough to +enable her to distinctly recognize the girl in the waitress's dress, +who sat on the low seat and held the youth's head in her lap. If there +had still been any doubt in the watcher's mind, it would have been put +at rest by the sight of the red braids, with which the little Samaritan +appeared to be caressing the insensible man.</p> + +<p class="normal">With quick strokes of the oars the boat shot out on the broad surface +of the lake. A few minutes, and the figures in it had faded into +shadows. Soon, only a faint line on the lake's polished mirror +indicated the course the silent craft had taken.</p> + +<p class="normal">A quarter of an hour after, Irene entered the room next to the +dancing-hall, where the old countess was impatiently awaiting the +return of her cavalier, who had only left her to make preparations for +the homeward voyage. She was frightened by the Fräulein's colorless +face, and overwhelmed her with anxious inquiries. Irene handed her the +lieutenant's note, in lieu of any other answer. The lively excitement +into which this very unfortunate incident threw the good lady diverted +her thoughts completely from Irene's condition. The young people, too, +who were hastily called away from their dancing, were far too much +occupied with one another, and with the question what was to be done, +to find anything odd in Irene's mute and stony manner. Besides, she had +already complained of a headache. The countess scolded at Schnetz for +having taken no thought of her. To whom could they intrust the guidance +of the vessel now? She flatly refused Elfinger's and Rosenbusch's +willingly-offered aid, nor would she listen to such a thing as their +looking about for a boatman in the house, but declared that now no +price would induce her to trust herself upon the water again. Instances +had been known where the wind had suddenly sprung up and driven back a +thunder-storm that had once passed over!</p> + +<p class="normal">In the mean while, the young count had been in consultation with the +landlord, and now came to report that a carriage could be ready +immediately, which would easily carry them to Starnberg inside of an +hour. The other party might then make use of their boat, unless they +should prefer to wait until the vehicle came back. But as the sky was +clear, and the night warm and lovely, both the sisters and Aunt Babette +thought it would be more advisable to make the voyage across than to +wait several hours more in the close house.</p> + +<p class="normal">So they took leave of the wedding-guests with more or less ceremony, +and made preparations for starting. The old countess, who, for several +hours past, had shown herself extremely gracious as long as Schnetz was +present to act as go-between, and the unknown young baron had lent a +certain respectability to his burgher friends, now suddenly seemed to +become conscious again of the gulf between her and the savers of her +life--particularly in the case of the girls, whom she did not honor +with another word. She gave Rosenbusch to understand, in pretty plain +language, that she was very angry with Schnetz, who had quite forgotten +all "<i>égards</i>" toward her, and had gone off without even coming to take +leave in person. The battle-painter, who found himself placed in a +rather embarrassing situation, was just on the point of making some +excuse for his absent friend, when suddenly the words stuck in his +throat. They had left the house in order to wait outside until the +carriage should be ready. There, on the white gravel close to the bank, +Rosenbusch saw a dark spot, from which a broad trail of drops ran down +as far as the landing-place. "Good God!" he cried. "What is this? +Blood? Freshly-shed blood? Countess, if this blood should really have +come from our baron, our friend Schnetz would undoubtedly be justified, +even by the severest court of honor, for having failed in the laws +of courtesy. I beseech you, don't let the others learn anything of +this--young ladies are so devilish timid and frightened at the sight of +blood--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Unfortunately the warning came too late. Irene had just stepped up to +the place where they were standing. When she caught sight of the +ghastly trace, she uttered a low cry, staggered back, and leaned for a +moment upon Rosenbusch, who officiously sprang to her assistance. This +scene caused the others to hasten up; and after the first shock was +over, they exhausted themselves in speculations upon this mysterious +occurrence. Who could possibly believe in hemorrhage in a young +man of such conspicuous strength and powerful figure? And as for a +fight--where were they to look for an adversary?</p> + +<p class="normal">The friends were still standing around the ghastly spot, shocked and +not knowing what to do, when one of the hostlers, belonging to the +hotel, came running up and told them he had also discovered traces of +blood on the landing-bridge, and this knife lying near them, on the +bank. It was not an ordinary peasant's knife with the blade fastened +firmly in the handle, but a slim dagger of Damascus steel, and the +handle bore a distinct impression of a bloody hand; no one except Irene +knew to whom it had belonged.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the mean while the carriage had driven up, and they lifted Irene in. +Though still suffering terribly, she struggled hard to maintain her +composure. The mother and daughter and the two young men crowded into +the other places as well as they could. Another short leave-taking, +whose brevity was perfectly explained by the gloomy mood they were all +in, and the aristocratic part of the company rolled away.</p> + +<p class="normal">A few minutes later the boat pushed off from the shore, rowed by +Rosenbusch and Elfinger. The night was still and clear, and the cool +wind blew, soft and damp, upon the girls' hot cheeks. But they sat +nestled close to one another, and gazed in silence at the sparkling +water; nor did either of the friends utter a word. Aunt Babette alone +made a slight attempt at conversation, by saying how amiable these +aristocratic persons were upon nearer acquaintance, and what a pity it +was they could not have returned home together; for she had been +telling the young count so much about Rosenbusch's flute-playing.</p> + +<p class="normal">As no one made any answer to all this, she, too, grew silent, folded +her hands in her lap, and appeared sunk in pious meditation.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">It was close upon midnight when Irene's uncle returned, in his open +wagon, from a trip to the Ammersee. The old lion-hunter was in glorious +spirits; he had made several bull's-eyes at the shooting-match; had +made love to the ladies; and had found a willing ear for his most +fabulous African hunting-tales even among the men. Even his famous +story of how he had aimed a double-barreled English rifle at a lioness, +and had fired two shots so rapidly one after the other, that the ball +from the right barrel shot out the animal's right eye, and that from +the other the left--even this narrative, about whose truthfulness some +doubts had occasionally been expressed, was apparently swallowed in all +faith. The champagne had done all the rest; so that the happy man +started out of the sweetest dreams when his carriage drew up before the +wicket-gate of the Starnberg villa.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was surprised to see that the balcony-room was still lighted up. It +was not in the least like Irene to allow an affectionate anxiety for +her night-owl of an uncle to keep her awake, and all signs of light +were extinguished in the neighboring houses. Then it occurred to him +that perhaps Schnetz had decided to stay out overnight, and to sit up +until his return. He was glad of this, for it would afford him an +opportunity to give an account of his triumphs to a connoisseur in such +matters; and he was therefore disagreeably disappointed when, upon his +entering the little <i>salon</i> up-stairs where the light was burning, his +young niece alone advanced to meet him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her face looked so strangely agitated, her manner was so excited, that +his champagne spirits departed on the instant, and he asked, in great +alarm, what had happened, and what had become of friend Schnetz? and +why Irene, who was evidently unwell, had not gone to bed?</p> + +<p class="normal">Speaking rapidly and with difficulty, she gave him an account of what +had passed. Not until she had finished the story did the name of him +who had played the chief <i>rôle</i> in this bloody catastrophe pass her +lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">But the effect produced by her account was very different from what she +had expected.</p> + +<p class="normal">Instead of expressing horror and sympathy the lively gentleman ran +around the room uttering a cry of joy, rubbing his hands and behaving +himself generally in such a delighted way, that Irene regarded him with +amazement, and finally asked him whether he had been listening to her, +or whether his thoughts were still with the merry hunting-party he had +just quitted.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, no! my dearest child," he cried, suddenly halting before her. "You +suspect me wrongly. Unfortunately I am accustomed to being +misunderstood by you, and to being accused of a frivolity which +sometimes overtakes me even in those moments when my proud little niece +assumes her most tragic tone. But, believe me, Irene dear, I see no +reason in this whole catastrophe that you have told me of to change my +way of thinking. That our Felix has lost a few drops of blood will not +do the scapegrace any particular harm, perhaps, and will take the +wildness out of him a little. At the worst, there will be no immediate +bad consequence--for that I can trust my good old Schnetz; and +Providence will not be so foolish as to send such a fine young fellow +over the bourn by such a miserable knife-scratch as this. And if we +escape with a simple fright, the whole situation will be left in the +best condition imaginable to repair some foolish errors that we have +made. Come, my child! Look me in the face, and confess that in secret +you are of my opinion."</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked him directly in the eyes, but with a sad expression.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We misunderstand one another again, uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Say, rather, you don't think it becoming to wish to understand my +honest and candid opinion. But, since you are ten times brighter and +more diplomatic than an old hunter and soldier like myself--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I entreat you, uncle--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can't fail to understand, without any further explanations on my +part, that it amuses me enormously to see our youngster Felix, whom I +imagined to be wandering about God knows where, a sighing and rejected +suitor, suddenly turn up next door to us. Do you mean to tell me that +chance has arranged all this so skillfully? Pooh, pooh!--you can't +cheat me. I tell you he has been traveling after us, and has secretly +followed his old flame, whom he still worships, into the primeval +forests of Starnberg and across the tempestuous lake of Würm; and, +since there was no other way of making up to you again with any +self-respect, he has adopted the very wisest course, and one that never +fails in its effect upon you soft-hearted souls, namely, that of +creeping into your sympathy by means of a few ounces of spilt blood, of +which article, by-the-way, he still possesses a very fair abundance. +And now--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Unless you want me to leave the room, uncle, spare me these perfectly +groundless insinuations. Have I not told you that he had no suspicion +of our plan to make a stay in Munich, and that Schnetz told me how he +entered a studio with his old friend Jansen, with the intention of +becoming a sculptor? But even if it were all just as you have arranged +it in your own mind--what difference would it make in my resolution? +Hasn't this unfortunate meeting proved the truth of all that I said to +myself when I gave him back his promise?--has it not confirmed my +belief that we could never be happy together? And yet, you imagine I +would think differently of him because he now lies dangerously ill, and +perhaps dying, of wounds which were undoubtedly given him by his rival, +that peasant fellow--in a fight--about a tavern-waiter--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her voice failed her; she turned away to repress her tears; but her +passionate pain overcame her, and, bursting into uncontrollable +sobbing, she sank back on a chair near the open door leading on to the +balcony.</p> + +<p class="normal">Even the jovial mood of her good-hearted foster-father was not proof +against this passionate outburst of long-suppressed feeling. He had +always regarded the girl's self-possessed bearing with amazement, and +had secretly attributed to her a certain coldness of heart, for she had +never given him an insight into the struggles and storms of her young +life. And now she sat before him like a child that has given way to its +grief, deaf, apparently, to all comforting words and caresses.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will bring things to such a pass," he cried, in ludicrous +desperation, "that I shall be forced to take up my old trade, and go +out lion-hunting again in my old age. Upon my word it's less wearing +work than having anything to do with a pair of estranged lovers, who +will neither come together nor yet separate entirely. The thing worked +passably as long as you were able to face it out. After all, although I +always looked upon it as a piece of foolishness for you to give such a +lover his dismissal, just because he didn't want to kiss the slipper +before his marriage: still, I supposed you must know what you were +about, and it was impossible for me to supply a mother's place toward +you, and explain how we men ought to be managed. At all events, things +ran smoothly, and we went on living peacefully together. But now, when +the ice suddenly breaks and you lose all control over yourself--tell +me, what in the world am I to do? My experience with wild animals has +made me something of a savage; but I instantly become the most cowardly +and chicken-hearted of domestic animals if a woman--and particularly +one I care so much for--begins to cry in my presence."</p> + +<p class="normal">She suddenly drew herself up, shook back her curls and passed her hand +across her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You shall not have to complain of it again, uncle," she said, in a +determined tone; "most assuredly, never again. You are right; it is +foolish to cry about something that was all over long ago. You will +never, never see me do it again."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My brave girl!" he said, embracing her and kissing her wet cheek, a +liberty he very seldom ventured to take. "I am glad you still care a +little for your old uncle. But now, go to bed, for it has grown so +late--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To bed!--in this terrible state of anxiety? What are you thinking of, +uncle? Will it be possible for you to sleep?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why not, you little goose? Ay, the sleep of the righteous, for I have +done my duty to-day, and have shown how our race can shoot--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you can deep before you know how he is?--and what the doctor has +said? I should have sent over to inquire before this, but the people of +the house are all asleep, and my maid Louisa is a stranger here and +would not be able to find the place."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you think I myself--well, I must confess!--at one o'clock at +night, tired to death by all my laurels--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uncle, unless you want to see me die of anxiety--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She threw herself into his arms, and clung to him in such helpless +entreaty that he could not resist. Sighing, and bitterly cursing in his +heart the feminine caprice which could first cast off a fine young +fellow and then make her life hang on his, he left the house once more.</p> + +<p class="normal">She called down to him from the balcony, gave him the directions for +finding the nearest way to the physician's house, and then stood there +motionless, in the cool night air, waiting for his return.</p> + +<p class="normal">He came back in a quarter of an hour, but brought no comforting +intelligence. The physician had not yet returned from Rossel's villa, +and would, in all probability, spend the night there. He had made the +physician's wife, whom he had routed up out of her sleep, promise +faithfully to send news the first thing in the morning.</p> + +<p class="normal">So there was no help for it, the night had to be passed in the most +agonizing state of uncertainty.</p> + +<p class="normal">But before the sun had long been shining across the lake, the physician +came in proper person; led, not only by the message that had been left +for him the night before, but also by a note that Schnetz had +commissioned him to deliver to his old comrade and brother-in-arms. In +this missive, in his own odd style, he supplemented the physician's +bulletin by all sorts of details. The wound in the hand, he said, in +conclusion, was, it was to be hoped, of no great account; a sinew had +been grazed, but not cut through, so that the determination of this +noble youth to augment the number of breadless stone-hewers would, in +all probability, not be defeated by the brutal intervention of a +Bavarian fist. The physician, on the other hand, reported that the +wound in the left shoulder was not altogether without danger, as the +stab had reached the extremity of one of the lungs, and a long rest and +course of nursing would be necessary before the arm could be used +again. For the rest, the patient would receive the best of care in Herr +Rossel's villa; his blood and circulation were in a thoroughly healthy +condition, and serious danger was quite out of the question.</p> + +<p class="normal">The doctor, who had never before seen the baron and the beautiful, +silent Fräulein, and who found nothing strange in her sympathy, as she +had formed one of the party on the day before, soon took his leave, +with a promise to keep them regularly informed about the case. Scarcely +had he gone, when Irene declared she would not go away from the place +until all danger was over; but that then she would not breathe the air +on this side of the Alps a moment longer--it weighed upon her spirits.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her uncle had to give her his word of honor that he would consent to +this arrangement, and also that he would not let Schnetz observe how +deeply they were both interested in the wounded man, but would explain +their sympathy as arising from pure philanthrophy. And it really was +nothing more than that, she said.</p> + +<p class="normal">Even though every inner bond was severed between them, still, she would +never be able to answer for it to her conscience if she should start +off before the question whether he might not possibly need her had been +definitely set at rest.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Was it nothing but abstract philanthropy that suffered Irene to find no +rest in any place or any occupation all that day, in spite of the +comforting assurances of the doctor?--that drove her from the piano to +the writing-desk, from the writing-desk out on to the balcony, and from +the garden down to the shore? Not a step sounded on the floor, not a +carriage rolled past in the street, but what she trembled. She had +herself sufficiently under control, however, not to betray her +nervousness by a single word. But her feverish restlessness did not +escape her uncle, who, the night before, had gained for the first time +a clear insight into a nature usually so proud. He was secretly +rejoiced at this, much as he pitied the poor child in her restless +grief. For the first time in years he felt that he was the wiser of the +two; that he was being justified by the course things were taking, and +that his good advice, which had once been scorned, was now redounding +to his credit. But as he really loved her, he behaved with the most +labored delicacy and consideration toward the young sufferer; never +touched her hidden wound by a single word, and only grumbled now and +then at the faithless Schnetz, who, considering the slight distance +that separated them, might certainly have come over and given him a +report of the patient by word of mouth.</p> + +<p class="normal">He knew that this thought was never out of Irene's mind for a moment, +and that all her listening and waiting turned upon it. But when the +afternoon came, and no new message made its appearance, he threw his +rifle over his shoulder, kissed the hand of his pale little niece, and +left the house to scour the woods for a while. If Schnetz should show +himself in the mean while, they were to hold him prisoner for the +evening.</p> + +<p class="normal">Scarcely did Irene find herself alone, when she fancied she could not +breathe the air in the close little rooms any longer. She hastily +caught up her sketch-book, put on her hat, and called her maid to +accompany her for a walk. She had recently discovered a picturesque +spot, with old trees and high ferns, farther back in the woods, which +she wanted to sketch. She trusted that she should be able to find it +again.</p> + +<p class="normal">Once outside in the streets, she took such quick steps that the girl +could hardly keep up with her. But Louisa was too well-trained to take +the liberty of asking any inquisitive questions. That her mistress was +not just as usual; that she kept her head turned away as much as +possible, and did not address a single word to her faithful attendant, +she could not, indeed, help noticing. But then these high ladies have +their moods. At first, the Fräulein seemed to be looking around, right +and left, in search of the goal of her artistic efforts. Then, after +they had walked along the forest-road for about a quarter of an hour, +and one villa after another, lying amid park and garden shrubbery, +began to appear on the bank of the lake to the left, the most lovely +old tree-trunks and foreground effects could not win a look from her. +Several times she stood still before one of the gates, and appeared to +be speculating as to who might live in the house beyond. The day +before, Schnetz had given her, in his favorite manner, a humorous +description of "Fat Rossel's" villa, and had cut a silhouette of its +occupant out of a piece of blotting-paper. These were but weak clews. +So she went on farther and farther, and her cheeks grew more and more +flushed from the rapid exercise, and her companion, who was rather +inclined to corpulence, found it harder than ever to keep up with her.</p> + +<p class="normal">At last she ventured to ask a laborer whom they met, carrying a +pick-axe and shovel, where Herr Rossel's villa was. The man pointed to +a park-fence made of rough, pine stakes, and was very much amazed when +the young lady rewarded this trivial service with a bright half-gulden.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Louisa," the Fräulein said, standing still for a moment to recover her +breath and push back her hair, "you will wait for me outside here. I +have to make some inquiries about something in the garden, and will be +back directly. The spot where I meant to sketch lies off to the right, +in the middle of the wood, and I see now that the afternoon light will +not be as favorable as I thought. It doesn't matter. I shall still be +able to draw a few lines. In the mean while hold my sketch-book--or no, +I will take it with me--you would be sure to get the leaves out of +order. Sit down there on that stump. I sha'n't be gone more than five +minutes."</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl obeyed without a word. She had never before heard the name of +the gentleman about whom Irene inquired. She tried to make out some +connection in the whole mysterious affair. But as she did not succeed, +she soon gave up thinking about it, and rejoiced at this comfortable +rest in the cool quiet of the woods after her quick walk.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the mean time her young mistress had hurried over the rest of the +way. The park in the rear of Rossel's little house appeared to be quite +empty and deserted, nor was any one to be seen at the windows. For a +moment she stood hesitating at the little wicket-gate before she could +muster up courage to lift the latch. Then she opened the gate quickly +and entered the little shady inclosure, through which wound a number of +well-swept gravel paths.</p> + +<p class="normal">But now, as she stepped out from among the pines, and saw before her +the flower-garden and the lawn, whose green turf extended to the +threshold of the house, she stopped in alarm, and would have given a +great deal could she have retired into the shadow again unobserved. For +right in front of her, in the midst of a clump of tall rosebushes from +which she was cutting the finest flowers for a bouquet, stood Zenz, who +recognized her at the first glance, and did not appear at all surprised +to meet the Fräulein here again, after the events of the day before.</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave Irene a good-natured and confidential nod, and said, without +waiting to be addressed:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have come most likely to inquire after the Herr Baron--haven't +you, now? Well, I am much obliged for your kind inquiry; and he is +getting on just as well as ever as he can, the doctor says. Only he +must be kept very quiet and can't receive any visits from strangers. +That's the reason we carried him right off last evening into the studio +up there in the turret, where he can't hear a sound from the kitchen +and the rooms below; so that even when old Katie has one of her +tantrums, and storms and raves about, it won't disturb his peace at +all. But not a soul can go in to see him except Herr von Schnetz, Herr +Kohle, Herr Rossel--and I, of course, because I am his nurse. I have +just run down into the garden to cut him a few roses. It's a good thing +to have something pretty by a sick person's bed, so that it will please +him when he wakes up. Meantime Herr Kohle is sitting by him and looking +after the ice bandages."</p> + +<p class="normal">While she was prattling on in this <i>naïve</i> strain, Irene had the +greatest difficulty in restraining her secret aversion toward the girl, +who innocently went on with her work; appearing quite a reputable +person, too, now that she was without her waitress's apron, and had her +red braids simply coiled around her head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish to speak to Lieutenant von Schnetz a moment," replied Irene, in +the coldest possible tone, "since, as you say, he is not busy just now +in the sick chamber--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The lieutenant? He is asleep. See, Fräulein, over there where the +curtains are let down. He has been lying there for the last two hours, +trying to make up a little bit for what he lost last night. Good +Heavens! What a fright we did have! and every one had more than his +hands full before we could get a decent bandage made, especially as old +Katie couldn't have been waked out of her sleep if the world had been +coming to an end. So I staid here, too, so that there might be some one +to wait on the gentlemen. There are so many things about which men +folks, even the very wisest of them, are as foolish as little children. +Isn't it so, Fräulein? And then--I couldn't bear to be anywhere else, +until I know that he is sure to get sound and well again. When people +have known each other as well as we two--and only to think that such a +thing as this could happen, and that a splendid handsome gentleman like +him should be almost stabbed to death just because of a poor girl like +me, and he quite innocent, too--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Irene had made a movement as though to leave the place as quickly as +possible. These last words made her think better of it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Innocent?" she said, carelessly, without looking at Zenz. "Do you +know, then, how it all came about?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To be sure I do," cried the girl, eagerly; "I was the cause of it all! +I wouldn't have anything to say to him, to Hiesl, I mean, and why +shouldn't I confess that I like the baron! There can't be a handsomer +or better man in the world, and when he smiles upon you, in his kind +way, you seem to feel it away down in your heart. And yet he isn't +proud at all, nor impudent and bad to a poor girl, like other young +gentlemen; it isn't any disgrace for me to like him better than a rough +fellow like Hiesl. Oh! Fräulein, I don't know how you feel about love, +or whether you have a sweetheart, but I--before I saw the Herr Baron +one man was just the same to me as another, and now it seems as if +there were only this one man under God's heaven; and whatever he says +and wants, that I must do, as if it were the Lord himself who ordered +me. But he--and you may believe this on my honor and as I hope to be +saved--he never thinks of such a thing. He knows well enough how I feel +toward him, but he never gives me a thought, and though I'm not pretty +I can't be so very ugly either. At all events if I wanted to I could +twist Herr Rossel round my little finger. But many thanks! I would +rather love one who doesn't care a bit about me, than be loved by one +that I don't like!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Meantime she had gone on tying up her bouquet, and now she held it up +with a bright laugh which showed all her white teeth. "Isn't it +beautiful?" she said. "But you won't even look at it, Fräulein. Don't +you like flowers?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Irene started out of a deep reverie. Her cheeks burned, and she +struggled vainly to maintain her reserve toward this girl, whose frank +and perfectly unselfish nature she could not help liking, do what she +would.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you think it perfectly proper?" she managed at last to say. "It +never occurred to you that you are doing anything out of the way in +openly following into a strange house, where there are other men, some +one who does not care anything about you? Though, to be sure, what does +it matter to me what you do or don't do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl let fall the hand that held the flowers, and gazed straight +into the eyes of this young preacher of morality, with an expression +that betrayed much more surprise than anger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Run after him?" she repeated. "No, Fräulein, I should never think of +such a thing; that <i>would</i> be stupid. For Black Theresa, where I used +to live, has often told me that men only like a poor girl so long as +they have to run after <i>her</i>. And because I didn't feel sure of myself, +and knew that if I lived in the same city with him I could not live +without seeing him and watching for him at the places where he usually +went--so that I should grow hateful to him at last, while now he is at +least kind to me--I came out here into the country and hired myself out +as a waiter-girl in the inn over yonder. But you see for yourself I was +not to get away from him; and now, when he lies at the point of death, +all along of a silly thing like me, and needs my help--no, Fräulein, I +didn't blame myself at all for having run after him, and I should +consider myself a very bad and heartless girl indeed, if I thought +anything about myself and what people might say. I would follow him +through a forest of wild beasts just to nurse him, and why not into a +house full of good friends of his, none of whom would bite me, just +because all have seen that I don't do it for love of them, but only for +the sake of him who doesn't care the least bit about me. There, now, +don't be angry with me for having told you this right out. I must go +back into the house and see whether Herr Kohle needs any fresh ice from +the cellar. Shall I give him any message from you; tell him that you +called, and hoped he would soon get well?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Irene had turned away. She felt herself so put to shame by the nature +of this girl, whom she had thought so far beneath her; her own behavior +looked so mean, narrow, and selfish reflected in the mirror of this +absolute, humble, joyful self-sacrifice, and the thought that she must +relinquish to another the place at his sick-bed so cut her to the heart +that she could not restrain her tears, and did not even think of trying +to hide her overflowing eyes from the astonished girl.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go back to him and give him a message from me!--and nurse him--and--I +will come again--to-morrow, at this time--no one need know about it +besides yourself. What is your name?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Crescenz. But they only call me Red Zenz."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-by, Crescenz--I did you wrong! You are a good girl--far, far +better than many others. Adieu!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She held out her hand to the bewildered girl, who was at a loss how to +reconcile the Fräulein's sudden kindness with her former coldness. Then +she turned hastily, and disappeared among the cedar-trees in the park.</p> + +<p class="normal">Shaking her head, Zenz stood gazing after her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She is in love with him, too, that is certain!" she said to herself; +and then it occurred to her that Felix had immediately asked her about +this Fräulein, yesterday at the inn. In her thoughts she placed the two +side by side, and was forced to admit, with a quiet sigh, that they +looked as if they were made for one another. She did not trouble +herself particularly as to how far matters had gone between them. For +that matter she never had any thoughts for anything except what was +near at hand; and, as she looked at her bouquet and said to herself +that she should be praised for bringing it, her round face broke into a +smile again and she tripped gayly into the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the studio up-stairs, by the side of a low couch on which Felix was +lying in a feverish sleep, sat Fat Rossel, who seemed to have +completely shaken oft his indolence, now that he had to do with so +serious an affair. He had, it is true, had his American rocking-chair +brought upstairs, but otherwise he vied with his friends in performing +the duties of the sick-room. It is possible, too, that the proximity of +the girl, whose sudden appearance under his roof had made him very +thoughtful, had been instrumental in working this miracle. Not only the +sarcastic Schnetz, but even the innocent and artless Kohle, had been +struck, from the very first, by the respectful and almost chivalrous +manner with which he, usually so hard to move, bore himself toward the +girl, little grateful or susceptible as she showed herself for his +homage. She sought to be nothing in the house but an extra servant, and +conducted herself quietly and modestly toward old Katie; and it was +only when a question arose about the care of the wounded patient that +she expressed her opinion unasked. It was soon evident that, with all +her narrowness and her extremely limited education, she had a natural +preference for everything tasteful, convenient, and pleasant, so that +the little household ran like clockwork, and old Katie found no time to +grumble at the increase in the number of the family, but could give +herself up, just as before, to her quiet vice.</p> + +<p class="normal">Kohle stood at his easel. In spite of the excitement of an almost +sleepless night, his tireless fancy still kept on working, and he was +engaged at this moment in transferring the little sketch of the second +picture to a sheet of the size of the first completed cartoon.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are, and always will be, a confirmed idealist," said Rossel, in a +low tone, without raising his eyes from Felix's sleeping figure. +"Instead of taking advantage of the opportunity and making some +splendid studies from real life here, you quietly work away at your +fables and turn your back on this fine specimen of Nature."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I merely want to sketch in the outlines of the figures," the artist +responded. "It flashed across me, early this morning, to try whether +they will do on a large scale as well as in the sketch. I think, after +all, I shall have to shift this central group a little more to the +left, so as to give the whole more symmetry."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Any stranger hearing you talk in this way, Kohle, my boy, would +suppose you were such an unsympathetic art-machine that even in the +midst of murder and violence you could think of nothing but your Venus. +But I know that with you it is merely an unconscious way of keeping up +your heart, just as Schnetz drank a glass of schnapps and I smoked a +chibouque after the first pull was over. Every one has a specific by +which he swears, and yours, moreover, is one of the sort that never +runs dry. But now, just come here and take a look at this model. After +all, these aristocratic families now and then produce some fine +specimens, turned out after the true <i>noblesse oblige</i> principle. What +a neck and shoulders this youngster has! And just see, Kohle, how the +biceps stands out through his tight-fitting shirt-sleeves. A young +Achilles, <i>corpo di Bacco!</i> Upon my word I should just like, now, in +this soft evening light, if I only had colors and canvas--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can help you out with those," interrupted Kohle, also speaking in a +carefully suppressed voice. "I provided myself with a palette only +yesterday--old Katie wants to have her portrait painted for her +grandchild--I think the canvas--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't bother yourself about it, my good fellow. Perhaps, after all, it +is more sensible of me to study him with my eyes. But look, he tosses +about so often! And now again, it's fine the way the forehead is +rounded out, and then the splendid form of the brows. No wonder he has +good luck with the women; and that even that witch Zenz, who, as a +general thing, is as unapproachable as you please, runs after this fine +fellow like Kätchen von Heilbronn. I only wish--"</p> + +<p class="normal">At this moment the door opened, and she of whom he was speaking stole +in on tiptoe with her bouquet. But, light as her step was, it seemed to +have awakened the sleeper. He groaned slightly, threw his right arm +above his head and then slowly opened his eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Beautiful flowers!" he murmured. "Good-morning! How goes it!--how is +art getting on?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Then, without waiting for an answer, and as if he were recalling to his +mind a face that had appeared to him in his dreams, he said:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I only wish I knew--whether it were really she. Has any one--asked +after me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Zenz approached softly and held the bouquet before him, so that his +pale face blushed from the reflection of the dark roses, and said, in a +whisper:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have a message for you from the beautiful Fräulein; she was down in +the garden to inquire after you, and she hopes you will soon be well +again. Oh, you know who I mean! The one over yonder, who didn't want to +dance with the rest."</p> + +<p class="normal">His eyes still rested on the bouquet; the words that he heard overcame +him with such happiness and bliss that he believed he was still +dreaming. By a powerful effort he raised his head a little, so as to +hide his burning face in the flowers. "Zenz," he said, "is that--really +true?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As true as I live; and she even began to cry at last, so that I felt +sorry for her myself, although--"</p> + +<p class="normal">A smile passed over the sick man's lips. He tried to speak, but his +emotion had been too violent. A dizziness overcame him, and, with a +gentle sigh, which did not sound like a sigh of pain, he closed his +eyes and immediately sunk back into a quiet slumber.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><i>BOOK V</i>.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">On a pleasant afternoon, a few days later, Jansen, Julie, and Angelica +started from the city for the Starnberg villa.</p> + +<p class="normal">The drive was silent and sad, for Jansen had been deeply moved by what +had happened, and Julie's heart was full of sympathy for his anxiety. +To the disappointment of all, when they reached Rossel's house, that +worthy met them with a grave face and reported that the doctor had +ordered absolute quiet, and had forbidden all exciting visits. He led +the ladies into the little <i>salon</i> and had some refreshments brought by +Zenz, who opened her eyes wide at Julie in unconcealed admiration. But +they were none of them in a mood to taste anything. They waited with +beating hearts to hear what news Jansen would bring back, for nothing +could dissuade him from going up to the sick man's room.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix lay as before in a half-sleeping state, so that Schnetz, whose +watch it happened to be, thought it would do no harm to admit his +friend. But they merely greeted one another with a silent nod. Then the +sculptor stepped up to the sick-bed of his Icarus, and, turning his +head away from the others, stood there motionless for full ten minutes. +Schnetz, who had seated himself again on the stool before the easel and +was cutting out a silhouette, noticed that a trembling, like that of +suppressed sobs, shook Jansen's massive frame. He was surprised at +this, for he did not know in what intimate relations the two had stood +to one another.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is no danger," he said, in a low voice; "a few weeks and he will +be able to mount his horse again. How he will get on with his modeling +is not so certain. That cut over the right hand was very heavy. But I +imagine that will be your least sorrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">The sculptor did not answer.</p> + +<p class="normal">But the wounded man seemed to have caught a word or two of what Schnetz +had whispered. He slowly opened his heavy, feverish eyes, and, with a +dreamy smile that gave a sweet, arch look to his pale face, he +muttered:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sorrow!--why should any one be sorry? The world is so beautiful--even +pain does one good. No, no, we will laugh--laugh--and drink to the +health--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He made a movement, and the piercing pain it caused him roused him +thoroughly. He recognized the silent figure at his bedside.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hans, my old Dædalus!" he cried, making a motion of his hand toward +his friend, "is it you? Good!--this is capital! This gives me more +pleasure--than I can tell you! Have you left your Paradise to come out +here? Oh, if you knew--you see I must not talk much--I could not, even +if I would--else--Heavens! what things--I should have to tell you! And +you me, wouldn't you, old boy? Between ourselves, it wasn't just as it +should have been--we knew almost nothing at all about one another--you +had your head full, and I too. But now, as soon as I am able to talk +again--you know that no human being is what you are to me--except +one--except one--and even she--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Schnetz rose with considerable noise, stepped up to the bed, and said: +"Fresh ice is of more account just now than warm old friendship. So +stop a bit!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He made a sign to Jansen to go out without waiting to take leave, and +then busied himself about his nurse's duties, while Felix's looks and +words soon grew confused again.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was some time before Jansen returned to the ladies, who had been +carrying on a rather monosyllabic conversation with the master of the +house. Julie saw at once from her lover's face how much this meeting +with his sick friend had moved him. She offered to remain out here with +Angelica, in the house, or at least in the neighborhood, so as to +lighten the duties of the men as much as possible. "Let us stay, my +dear Herr Rossel," she entreated; "we shall have no difficulty in +finding a room somewhere in the neighborhood. Angelica will make flower +studies, and I will rip cloth for bandages, and pick lint. A woman +without talents, like myself, is invaluable at such a time."</p> + +<p class="normal">Rossel declined all these proposals, nor would he hear of such a thing +as Jansen's staying to assist them. They three sufficed to do anything +that men could do. And the female department was also in the best of +hands. Then he began to expatiate with much warmth upon the tireless +energy and willingness of Red Zenz, who had not returned to the +<i>salon</i>, saying he thought he owed it to the good child not to hurt her +feelings by accepting any other help than hers and that of his old +house-keeper. In spite of their wish the friends had to yield; but they +made him promise, at parting, that he would send for them at once in +case the duties became more onerous, or he should find they had not +force enough.</p> + +<p class="normal">In addition to this, Kohle promised to send them news daily.</p> + +<p class="normal">One other subject came up for discussion during this visit. Even in the +first excitement, Schnetz had urged that they should report the affair, +and have Hiesl, the murderous boatman, handed over to the courts. The +latter had the audacity to go about in Starnberg, and to work at his +calling, as if nothing had happened; indeed, he was reported to have +boasted of the whole affair, and to have said: "I hope I have spoiled +the honorable gentleman's sport for a few weeks, at least." This +cold-blooded, triumphant defiance enraged the lieutenant, and he would +have liked to give the fellow a good lesson. Rossel, however, opposed +this--chiefly in order to spare Zenz, who would undoubtedly be summoned +as a witness, and have to go before a jury. Jansen sided with him, +because he was convinced that it would go against his friend's nature +to see any man--however loath he might be to regard him as a worthy +antagonist--with whom he had fought man to man, accused as a criminal, +and made to suffer punishment through any act of his. As Kohle, +likewise, inclined to this view of the case, it was decided not only to +do nothing about the matter for the present, but also to avoid, if +possible, any independent interference on the part of justice.</p> + +<p class="normal">The friends soon after took their leave, all deeply impressed by the +gravity of the patient's case and by their visit.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">But there was one of their traveling-companions who remained behind at +the villa. It is needless to say that Homo accompanied them on their +visit to his sick friend, not traveling, of course, as others of his +race do, in the low compartment reserved for dogs--but in a <i>coupé</i> +with his master and the ladies; for everybody knew him, and esteemed +him highly for his superior traits of character. At the last station he +found it too close for him in the narrow compartment. He escaped into +the open air, and bounded along by the side of the train for the rest +of the way. But as he had gotten out of the habit of taking such +youthful runs, and as the way was hot, he made the remaining part +of the journey--from Starnberg to Rossel's villa--at a snail's +pace, and with hanging head and thirsty tongue. Upon reaching the +sick-chamber--after having greeted the wounded Felix with a low, +half-angry, half-mournful howl--he stretched himself out at the foot of +the bed, and nothing could induce him to forsake his resting-place when +Jansen took his leave. He pretended to be asleep, and the friends were +too much accustomed to respect him as an independent, intelligent being +to disturb his rest.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then, too, he conducted himself; after he had recovered his strength, +with exceeding tact and modesty; demanded no particular care or +attention from anybody, for he evidently saw that they had little time +to spare for him, and accepted with a good grace whatever fell to his +share. He would have been much better provided for down-stairs in the +kitchen, but he evidently thought it would be selfish for him to leave +his place at the sick-bed for the sake of a better meal, and he passed +the greater part of the day at the patient's side; for Felix loved to +pass his heavy hand, half in a dream, over his back, and when he was +awake to address all sorts of caressing speeches to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">At other times the sick man let his dim, feverish eyes rove about the +studio; examined Kohle's cartoon, which was slowly making progress, +nodded gratefully and contentedly to his silent watchers--to whichever +one happened to be on post at the moment--and then sunk back again into +a refreshing slumber, often with a name on his lips which none of his +attendants understood.</p> + +<p class="normal">The possessor of this name had not appeared in the garden again since +that first visit. Her uncle, on the other hand, rode by daily, drew up +at the gate whenever there happened to be any one within hail, or else +dismounted and, after tying his horse, went into the house, to inquire +about the invalid. This did not excite remark, for he was an old +acquaintance of the lieutenant, and his niece had made one at the fatal +water-party. Zenz, alone, although as a rule little given to pondering, +had her own thoughts in regard to the interest which uncle and niece +took in an utter stranger, and they only tended to confirm her former +surmises.</p> + +<p class="normal">The reports from the sick-chamber were not the most favorable that +could have been wished. The healing of the wound in the shoulder went +on, it is true, without interruption--but slowly, on account of the +restlessness and feverishness of the patient. On the following Sunday, +when Jansen came out again with Rosenbusch and the actor, the fever +had, indeed, disappeared; but even now the visits to the sick man were +not allowed to last more than ten minutes, for the physician had +strictly forbidden all conversation until the wound in the lung should +have completely healed. Rosenbusch's offer to relieve Schnetz was +declined--greatly to his sorrow, which was only partially relieved by +Felix begging him to play his flute for a little while in the garden +under the window. Of Elfinger's proposal to read aloud to him, he +promised to take advantage later. He showed constantly how happy the +devoted care of his friends made him, and held the hand of his +"Dædalus" tightly clasped in his own during the whole of the visit, +with a tenderness such as he rarely exhibited before others.</p> + +<p class="normal">Homo was to have returned with the three visitors, but even now he +could not be induced to do so.</p> + +<p class="normal">On the day after this second visit Kohle was standing down-stair in the +dining-room at a time which, according to the orders of the day, he +should have devoted to sleep to strengthen himself for his night-watch. +But he could find no rest until he finally put his hand to the work +that burned within his soul. Although the walls had not yet been +prepared for frescoing, but still wore their old stone-gray tint, he +had, by way of experiment, set to work to draw with charcoal an +architectural frame for his cycle of pictures--a row of round-arched +arcades with sturdy Romanesque pillars, resting upon bases connected by +a plain foundation. There were just the same number of arches as the +Venus legend contained separate scenes, and the panels in the spandrils +over the pillars were to contain the portraits of the friends who had +assembled under this roof. This portrait-gallery was begun with the +beautiful head of Jansen's betrothed, who was certainly well fitted to +contest the first rank with Dame Venus (as the latter had been depicted +by Kohle's fancy, at least), while at the end of the row, the round, +good-natured face of Angelica, with its merry, flowing curls, peered +forth in all its plainness. Zenz and old Katie were to be immortalized +among the people in the convents.</p> + +<p class="normal">Kohle had traced the outlines of the decoration with a bold hand, and +had even allowed himself to be so carried away by his delight as to +begin to fill in the first panel with its whole sketch; for he was +anxious to convince the ever skeptical and critical Rossel how +excellently it would fit into the space allotted to it. But he was +suddenly interrupted by an unexpected visit.</p> + +<p class="normal">In looking back to that first evening in Paradise, the indulgent reader +may perhaps find some difficulty in recalling a modest figure that took +small part in the bacchanalian excitement of the younger members, and +made no noise himself. But, even if the old man with the calm face and +snow-white hair should be still unforgotten, the figure that now came +tottering into the little hall with unsteady walk, agitated face, and +an old straw hat stuck on the side of his head like a drunken man's, +would find no recognition.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For God's sake, Herr Schoepf, what's happened to you?" cried the +painter, as he threw aside his crayon. "You look terribly! Do tell +me--"</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man threw himself on the nearest divan, and gasped as though +compelled to draw his breath from some deep well.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it you, Herr Kohle?" he finally stammered out with much difficulty; +"I sincerely beg your forgiveness for bursting in on you in this way, +without being announced--but don't let me disturb you. Once more I beg +you to excuse me; but there are times when all one's good manners--no, +no, I won't drink anything," he cried, interrupting himself, for he saw +that Kohle had reached out his hand for the bottle of sherry that had +been left from breakfast and still stood on the table--"not a drop, +Herr Kohle--Oh, God! who would have imagined it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He sank back on the sofa again after an unsuccessful attempt to rise, +and muttered unintelligibly to himself, as old people so often do.</p> + +<p class="normal">The painter was greatly shocked. He had always honored this old +gentleman as a very model of cheerful equanimity and clear-headedness; +and in many of his professional or personal troubles he had often felt +disposed to go and ask his advice, which he always gave with great +wisdom and gentleness. And now Kohle saw him sitting there helpless and +unmanned, like a night-bird that has lost its way in the daylight, and +closes its eyes and tries to shrink into itself.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, at last, the old man appeared to rouse himself by a powerful +effort; he opened his eyes wide and attempted to smooth his withered, +faded face, fringed with a gray stubble, into the old kindly lines, +only succeeding, however, in producing a kind of grin, something +between laughing and weeping.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Herr Kohle," he said, "I must seem to you like a madman; but, +if you knew all, you would easily understand why my old brain has been +thrown a little off its balance. And you shall know all about it some +day; but now--don't be offended with me--you are so much younger, it +would be very hard for me to tell you everything. Oblige me by calling +the lieutenant--he has had more experience--or no, you are at your +work, tell me where I can find Herr von Schnetz. I don't wish to +disturb you--"</p> + +<p class="normal">At this moment he of whom they had been speaking came into the room, +and was, in his turn, not a little amazed when he saw the state his old +friend was in. Kohle left the two alone. In spite of his fever for +work, he could not find it in his heart to lead the exhausted old man +into another apartment.</p> + +<p class="normal">The latter did not appear to notice his absence. He had not yet let go +of the hand Schnetz had offered him, as if, in his agitation, he found +it necessary to cling to some support. Notwithstanding his benevolent +feelings toward those younger than himself, he was, as a general thing, +a man of rather reserved manners, and not particularly lavish of signs +of confidence and familiarity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My good friend," he said, "be lenient toward me, and listen patiently +without interrupting me. For in order to help me you must know my whole +sad history, and I can only tell it when I can almost forget that there +is any one listening. Sit down here by my side. And now, listen while I +tell you something that has not passed my lips for twenty years.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was once a very different man from what I now appear to you; not +simply that I was younger and better contented, and had not known what +true misfortune was; but I bore another name, which may possibly have +reached your ears. For although I cannot say that I exactly raised it +to any particular fame, still, as a born Municher, you have probably +heard it mentioned among those who assisted at the art-works of the +early part of old Louis's reign, though; to be sure, only as a young +apprentice. Even in those days I was not possessed by the demon of +ambition, and on the pictures that I painted, as well as on the +frescoes that I helped to execute, you will not find even my monogram. +From the very first, I had too great a respect for true genius to form +an exalted idea of my own humble qualifications for an artist. By the +side of my master, Cornelius, I felt like the sparrow that soared up to +the sun under the eagle's wing, and was permitted to enjoy himself +royally up there so long as he did not forget that he was, after all, +only an insignificant sparrow. However, I was always bent upon letting +well enough alone, and consoled myself with the thought that, even if I +did possess but a mediocre talent for creative art, I could vie with +the greatest masters in the art of living.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I had a pretty, gentle, sensible wife, two children, who were growing +up finely, as much money as I wanted, and more honor than I deserved. +For in those days all of us here in Munich were like members of one +family, or like soldiers in a <i>corps élite</i>--whatever fame was won by +the leaders redounded to the benefit of us privates.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was a life which seemed to leave nothing wanting to its happiness, +and I began to take credit to myself for the many blessings Heaven had +poured into my lap. I deluded myself with the idea that although I was +not phenomenal as a man or as an artist, I was, on the other hand, +something no less rare--a perfectly normal citizen of the world, a +truly model specimen of honesty and excellence, especially selected by +fate to be a source of joy and imitation for less favored mortals. My +good wife, too, who did not at first chime in with my lofty tone, was +gradually converted to this state of self-exaltation, until she came to +believe that not a single flaw could be found in her husband, her +children, her friends, her home life, or even in her pets.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will not recount to you the ridiculous details of our pride and +self-complacency. Enough! This audacious structure of conceit and +Phariseeism received a blow one day that sent it tumbling in hopeless +ruin about our heads. One evening, quite late, while I was sitting on +my scaffolding in the palace, painting, my wife tottered up the steps +looking like a picture of despair. She had not even stopped to reflect +whether there were others about us who might overhear our conversation; +her horror at the terrible discovery had so unbalanced her clear mind +that she could not wait until I came home, but ran into a public +building after me to tell me that our daughter--the only child we had, +besides a fine, sturdy boy--a girl on whom I had lavished all my +fatherly pride--that she, our jewel, so loved and treasured-- But I +must retrace my steps a little, so that you may understand all this.</p> + +<p class="normal">"About this time my wife having come into possession of a very +considerable fortune, we had begun, contrary to the Munich custom, to +keep open house. As model beings, for such we fancied ourselves to be, +we even regarded it as a sort of duty not to hide our light under +a bushel. And then, besides, it was a pleasant enough thing to +do, and even now I can't condemn our having rebelled against the +narrow-hearted, inhospitable custom of the place, and admitted all +manner of good friends to enjoy our domestic happiness with us. But +even here our pride in our daughter played an important <i>rôle</i>. The +girl was not beautiful, nor even what one would generally call pretty; +she had inherited my flat features, little eyes, and large mouth. But +something sparkled in those eyes that attracted everybody; and when the +large red mouth, with its white teeth, expanded in a laugh that seemed +to come straight from the heart, it was impossible to help feeling +merry too. She had a remarkable talent for communicating her high +spirits to her circle of young people, and this mirthfulness often +reached the wildest extravagance; though, with her, it never went +beyond proper limits, so that I, in my blind adoration, was wont to say +to my wife, when she occasionally shook her head over it: 'Let the +child alone, her nature will protect her better than all our art.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I knew that others thought differently; indeed, I was often obliged to +listen to warnings, more or less distinct, from this or that friend, to +draw the reins tighter; a young untamed thing like her would be sure to +bolt some day or other. For hints like these I had always the same +superior smile, and only told my wife of them that I might laugh at the +Philistinism of my colleagues.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The daughter of such a thoroughly well-balanced person, surely one +could confidently leave her to herself, in cases where there would have +been danger for weaker natures.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And now came the discovery of our shame! Now came the fearful fall +from that height to which we had soared in our dreams!</p> + +<p class="normal">"Any other man would have turned his eyes inward, would, before all +else, have taken himself to task and looked upon the sad and terrible +occurrence as a just chastisement of his foolish blindness. But this +model man was superior to all such weaknesses. Oh, my good friend, it +is not true what philosophy teaches, that the real nature of a man +cannot be changed; that it is only his outward conduct that gradually +gains a certain power of habit over the true character of the +individual. I know this by bitter experience; of that fool who drove +his poor child from his home in her shame and misery and forbade her +ever to come in his sight again; of that childish and cruel father +there is not a vestige left in me--so little that I can search my +nature for it as much as I will. With all my other faults and human +weaknesses, it is absolutely incomprehensible to me how I could ever +have torn my poor flesh and blood from me, and cast it forth into the +outside world.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The child bore herself far better and more nobly than her parents. She +declared decidedly that having, as she found to her sorrow, forfeited +forever the love of father and mother by her weakness, she would no +longer accept anything from their bounty. We thought this was merely a +fine phrase. But we soon learned how seriously she had meant what she +said. The poor girl suddenly disappeared from our house and the +city--and probably from the country--for all our efforts to find her +were without result.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She had persistently refused to give the name of her betrayer, and we +were either compelled or tempted to suspect every friend who had been +intimate at our house; so that, although appearances were kept up for a +while longer, and a plausible pretext was found for the disappearance +of our daughter, our domestic bliss was ended at a blow, and soon +vanished utterly. She who had given, life and charm to the most +trifling domestic pleasures was wanting.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But we had not yet reached the end of our sorrows; our son, too, was +to be taken from us. He studied medicine---a quiet, steady, and, to all +appearances, a somewhat phlegmatic man; but he had an exceptionally +keen sense of honor. When his sister did not return, this and that +began to be gossiped about her. The slightest allusion, often a +perfectly innocent speech, would throw him into a state of furious +anger. It was some remark of this sort that had as its sequel a duel +between him and his best friend. They bore the last joy of our life, +bathed in bloody back into our wretched home.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And now the floodgates were opened. It was all over with our model +household. It came out why our daughter had been driven to misery and +our son to death. Our friends could not help assuming a certain air of +pity toward us, that broke my wife's heart and drove me from the city. +I went to North Germany, and there I buried my wife a year later. Soon +after I gave up painting. I looked upon engraving, with all its +drudgery, as an instrument of chastisement--as a mode of daily forcing +down my pride. My dishonored name had become hateful to me, and I had +laid it aside when I left Bavaria, But I did not neglect to have an +appeal to my outcast child inserted in all the newspapers, begging her +to return to her solitary father, to forgive him, and to help him bear +his remaining years of life.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No answer ever came, although I continued to have the notice inserted +for many years.</p> + +<p class="normal">"At last I became thoroughly convinced that she was no longer in this +world; and no sooner did this belief, which it had taken ten years to +beat into my head, become a settled conviction, than a singular +transformation took place in me. I grew calm again, after all my +wretched experiences, and at peace with myself; there were times when I +had difficulty in recognizing in my present self the man whose guilt +and foolishness had worked so much misery. I succeeded so well in +outliving my old nature, in working a complete regeneration of my inner +man, that I actually felt something like curiosity to see the city in +which my predecessor had suffered so much sorrow and shame.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And so, one day, I came back to Munich, though I scarcely knew it +again, for everything at whose birth I had assisted was now completed, +and besides a new world had sprung up. Nor did the old city recognize +me either. I had grown a white-headed, quiet, solitary man, bore +another name, and lived like a hermit--never going out during the day, +unless, perhaps, to visit the studio of one of the younger artists who +had settled here since my day. It has sometimes happened that I have +found myself in a beer-garden seated next to some boon companion of the +days of my prosperity, who had no idea who the silent old man was who +was eating and drinking at the same table with him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And this is the way I have gone on for six or seven years, counting +myself always among the departed spirits, and sometimes startled at the +sight of my own face if I chanced to catch a glimpse of it in the +mirror. It is incredible, my dear friend, how tough the thread of life +is sometimes. For really had it not been for my interest in art, and in +some good young friends who have shown me confidence and respect, the +whole world would have been a blank to me. Besides, when photography +came into such general use, it seemed to me that my graver was a very +superfluous sort of thing, of little further use except to multiply +copies of business cards, labels on wine-bottles, and other things of +that sort.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So I continued to grow more idle, more contemplative, and, if you +like, wiser; except that I myself felt little respect, and sometimes +even disgust and loathing, for any wisdom that could haunt such a +useless wreck of a man."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man spoke these last words in such a mournful voice, and hung +his head so low upon his breast, that Schnetz could not help feeling +the warmest pity for him. At the same time he asked himself with +amazement how it could have been possible for them all to have +associated with this terribly-tried man for so many long years without +having taken the trouble to find out anything about his history.</p> + +<p class="normal">He now bluntly said as much, inveighing in his bitter way against the +wretched state of society in which they lived.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A fine Paradise!" he growled out, half to himself. "We have a great +idea of how necessary we are to one another, and yet the few fellow-men +who are worth troubling ourselves about stand in no nearer relation to +us than the wild animals did to our first parents. Though, to be sure, +in your case we ought not to bear the chief blame. Why did you yourself +never feel a desire to break the ice between us? It would have been a +healthier thing for you, if you had long ago formed an intimacy with +one of us."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man raised his head again, but still kept his eyes shut tight, +and groped blindly for Schnetz's hand, which he pressed warmly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps it is not yet too late," he stammered, in a trembling voice. +"I hope it may still be in your power to assist me in finding a place +in life again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"One morning about a fortnight ago a little sealed packet was brought +to me by a street messenger. It bore no address, but when I saw the +seal I felt a terrible shock. I recognized it as one I had once given +to my daughter--a cornelian, in which was cut an Egyptian scarabæus. I +asked the man who had given it to him. A girl, he said, who had given +him an exact description of my lodging and appearance; and she had also +known my name--my present one--which I have no reason to suppose my +lost daughter had ever even heard of. I was so beside myself with +alarm, joy, and a thousand indescribable sensations that I did not +break the seal at first; only one thing seemed clear to me in my +confusion--before all else I must find the person who had sent the +messenger. Did he know where she was to be found? I asked. But she had +engaged him in the street, had paid in advance, and had then +immediately disappeared round the next corner. And then he described +her! It was my lost one, feature for feature, and yet it could not be +she herself, for this one must have been about as old as my daughter +was when I cast her off. So it must be the <i>child</i> of my lost darling! +And to think that she, too, should flee from me like her poor mother!</p> + +<p class="normal">"At last I tore the string off the packet, and there fell out a letter +and two small pictures--daguerreotypes, such as they used in those days +to take on silvered plates--one of them a picture of her mother, the +only thing she had taken away with her from her home, the other a young +man whose face I had great difficulty in recalling.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The letter had been written several years before. Only in case of her +death was it to come into my hands, she wrote in the very first lines. +She had always been a proud child, and guilt and want and her sad life +had not changed her. Yet there was a loving, tender tone in her words, +a spirit of parting that softens even the hardest and most bitter +natures; and as I read her simple confession, in which she accused +herself of having robbed me of my happiness and ruined my life--of +having offended me beyond forgiveness--it seemed as if my heart would +burst. She could never prevail upon herself to return to me; at first +from fear that I would renounce her a second time, and later, because +she did not want to become a fresh burden to me. She knew that I had +taken another name, and was living in the strictest seclusion. If she +should suddenly appear with her child, it might not be convenient for +me. But, when she should be no more--and this must be soon, for her +lungs grew weaker every day--she begged me not to let the child suffer +for the wrong her mother had done me. It was a good child, unspoiled as +yet, but with little sense and very giddy. She needed a father's hand +to guide her through her years of danger. She had appealed in vain to +the child's father in the first years after his desertion of her. But, +when no answer came, she had taken an oath that he should be dead to +her forever. She had found no difficulty in keeping it, for she hated +him now as much as she had once loved him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For the child's sake she would now speak his name for the first time +in eighteen years, so that if he should still be alive her father might +call him to account and force him to make provision for his orphaned +daughter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And then followed a short word of farewell and the name of my child, +and beside it in brackets that of her betrayer, which was also on the +back of the daguerreotype, where, with his own hand, he had written +some words of presentation to my daughter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Give me a glass of water, my dear friend. My tongue cleaves to the +roof of my mouth, as if I had swallowed the dust of a whole graveyard! +So--thank you--and now I shall soon have done.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For I shall take good care not to tell you how I have spent my time +since the receipt of this legacy. I sometimes realized myself how much +like a madman I must have looked as I rushed about the streets, at all +hours of the day and night, peering under the hats of all the young +girls, and forcing my way into the houses wherever I caught the +faintest glimpse of red hair at the window."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Holy Moses!" interrupted Schnetz, springing up and pacing the hall +with long strides, all the while furiously twisting at his imperial. +"Why didn't you tell us this before? Why, it must be our Zenz!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man bowed his head with a sigh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I first learned it, or rather guessed it, yesterday, when I happened +to meet Herr Rosenbusch, and he told me of all that had happened here. +It came upon me like a flash; this red-haired servant and my +granddaughter, who felt so little desire to know the grandfather who +had cast off her mother, are one and the same person. I could hardly +wait for the morning before coming here and clasping to my heart the +one thing that still belongs to me in this world. But as I entered the +park a short time ago, my knees scarcely able to carry me from +excitement, and saw from a distance, through the branches, the red hair +and the round face with the red lips and the short nose--she stood in +the very centre of the lawn raking together the new-mown hay--I stepped +up to her and cried, 'Don't you know me, Zenz?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"And then, instead of throwing herself into my outstretched arms, she +gave a cry, as if a wild beast were upon her, and started off down the +garden as fast as she could run, and I after her, pursuing her around +the lawn and shouting out the most heart-rending words and entreaties, +until she saw her chance, pushed open the gate and escaped from me into +the road.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In spite of my sixty years I am no crippled invalid, my dear friend, +and in the midst of all my wretchedness and grief my anger at this +futile and ridiculous chase, after a foolish thing who refused to +understand how well I meant by her, got the better of me, and I put +forth all my strength to overtake her. But the foolish thing sped away +from me, as blind and deaf as if death itself were at her heels. I +believe she would have thrown herself under the wheels of the +locomotive that was approaching rather than have me catch her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, all of a sudden, I felt shocked at this unconquerable fear and +loathing in so young a heart, and stood still and called to her to have +no fear--that I gave it up. And then, when I saw her flee into the +thick wood to the right, I faced about and dragged myself back to the +villa. For the first time I realized how my limbs shook, and what a +miserable figure I should cut in your eyes. But you are old enough, +Herr von Schnetz, to no longer feel amazed at any fate, however sad and +strange, that may befall a man. I felt I could tell you all this; and +now I have come to the end of my foolishness and of my wisdom. For, +after what I have just experienced, I can scarcely hope ever again to +approach the legacy left me by my poor daughter. I have become a +scarecrow; the warm nest I would offer to the child seems more terrible +to her than the haystack or fence under which she can crouch for a few +nights, before starting off upon her wanderings again."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Schnetz, who all this time had never ceased to stride up and down the +room, now stepped up to the old man.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sit still where you are, Herr Schoepf," he said. "Stay here where it +is cool until you are thoroughly rested. Meantime I will go and find +the girl, and talk to her. She has a liking for me, possibly because I +have never tried to win her favor."</p> + +<p class="normal">With these words he left the old gentleman. He first searched through +the house and garden after the frightened bird, but finally had to make +up his mind to go into the wood after her.</p> + +<p class="normal">After much unsuccessful searching and calling, he finally saw her white +face and red hair shimmering from out the green shadows, in a little +cleared spot on the gentle slope of the grove, from which she could +command a view of the entrance of the park.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What a trouble you are making, Zenz!" he shouted to her. "What are you +running about in the lonely wood for all the forenoon, when there is +enough to be done in the house? Old Katie has worked as hard to find +you as if you had been a needle in a haystack."</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl had hastily sprung from the mossy seat on which she had been +crouching, and seemed to be holding herself in readiness to dart away. +Her round cheeks had suddenly flushed crimson.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is he still there?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who? Don't be so childish, Zenz. The idea of running away from a good +old man, as if he were Satan himself!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I won't go home till he has gone," she said, with a defiant shake of +her head. "I know what he wants. He wants to lock me up in his hateful, +lonely house, where no sun or air gets in. But I have never done him +any wrong, and I won't go--I won't bear it--I'd rather have him kill me +right here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're out of your senses, girl! Do you know him? What do you know +about him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She did not answer immediately. He saw how wildly her young breast +heaved, how her eyes were fixed on the ground, and how her teeth bit +the little twig she held in her hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He is the father of my mother!" she finally burst out, her face taking +on a look of intense hatred. "He drove my poor dear mother out of his +house because of me--that is, before I ever came into the world. Oh, he +is so stern! My mother never dared to go back to him as long as she +lived. Then, when she was going to die, she wrote a letter to her +father asking him to take care of me, and she made me promise by all +that was holy to carry this letter to my grandfather as soon as she was +dead; and I promised I would, though I never could get up much love for +him, and no one can blame me for it either. But, when I came to Munich, +I felt terribly forlorn and forsaken at first, for I didn't know a +soul, and I thought to myself I'll just take a look at him and see what +he's like. So I waited in front of his house, with my packet in my +pocket, until he went out in the evening. I tell you truly, Herr +Lieutenant, I was so miserable and unhappy that even if he had only +looked just the least bit kind I would have been very glad to go up and +say to him: 'I am Zenz; people say I am the very image of my poor dear +mother, and my dear mother was your daughter, and now she is dead and +sends you this letter!' But when he came out of his house so stern and +still, and looked neither to the right or left, but only stared at the +ground, just as if he didn't care anything at all for the dear world +all about him--hu! it made my flesh creep! Nothing in the world shall +ever force me to have anything to do with him, thought I to myself; and +I let him go by as if he had been a perfect stranger. Still, I thought +I would leave the letter for him, so I made some inquiries about him of +his landlady; And I heard from her that he hides in his lodgings like +an owl in a hollow tree; no one comes to see him, and he goes to see +nobody; he gets no letters and he writes none. There was a little +looking-glass hanging in the landlady's room, and I happened to see my +face in it, and it looked to me as if I had an ashy-gray skin and faded +hair. I think most likely the glass was colored blue, but for all that +I felt as if it was warning me--'This is the way you'll look before +long, if you shut yourself up with your grandfather in his dark den +where no sunbeam will ever reach you.' So I went away and took good +care not to deliver my packet, for it might have betrayed me. And that +very same evening I got acquainted with Black Pepi, and went to live +with her, and never sent him my poor, dear mother's packet until I went +into the country. But how he found out where I was, or what he wants of +me--for he must have the sense to see that I don't want to have +anything to do with him--I--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Zenz," interrupted the lieutenant, "be a sensible girl, and at least +get acquainted with your only relation before you rebel against your +mother's last wish. I can assure you you wouldn't have any fault to +find with him; and if he should treat you like a prisoner or try to +coerce you in any way--are not your old friends at hand? Do you suppose +that Herr Rossel, or the baron, or I myself, would suffer any one to +ill-treat our little Zenz? If you could only hear the old gentleman +talk, and see how sorry he is for all he did and did not do for his +daughter, and how anxious he is to atone for it to his grandchild! No, +Zenz, you are too sensible a girl to be so childishly frightened by the +spectres your own imagination has called up. And, besides, what do you +think is going to become of you when the summer is over and we all go +back into the city again?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He waited a moment for her answer. But as none came, and she seemed to +be lost in thought, he drew a step nearer, and, taking one of her +hands, said, in his truehearted way:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know what you are thinking, my child. You are in love with the +baron, and you are thinking you will remain near him as long as it is +possible, and then perhaps he will love you in return; and you have no +thought for anything else. But you ought also to tell yourself how +miserably it must all end at last. He won't marry you--you must make up +your mind to that--and what will be the upshot of such an unhappy love +you have seen, unfortunately, in the case of your poor mother."</p> + +<p class="normal">She withdrew her hand from his; but looked at him quietly, and almost +with something of her old light-heartedness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You mean well by me, sir," she said. "But I am not so foolish as I may +look. I never imagined for a moment that he would marry me; he wouldn't +even love me, no, not if I had saved his life and should be near him +ever so long. He loves some one else--I know that for certain--and I +don't blame him for it a bit, and if I choose to go on liking him, in +spite of all that, it is my affair, and nothing that anybody says will +make any difference. Until he is well again, and can get up and go +about, I am going to stay out here; and no one knows better than you +that I don't eat my bread in idleness, and that you are not able to get +along without me. Just tell this to my--to the old gentleman; and as to +what may happen afterward, why, that is something none of us can tell +yet. But I won't let myself be caught, and if he should use force--I +would jump into the lake sooner than let myself be made a slave of!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She turned sharply on her heel and began very calmly to walk up the +hill, no longer as if to flee, but merely because she had spoken her +last word. Schnetz had always had a secret liking for her, though he +had no very high opinion of her understanding or her virtue. But he +could not help feeling a certain respect for her as she had just shown +herself to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She knows what she wants, at all events," he growled, "and won't allow +herself to be deceived, not even by her own poor heart. There is good +blood in the little red fox."</p> + +<p class="normal">Upon returning to Schoepf he exerted himself to the utmost to convince +the old gentleman that, for the present, it was useless to try and do +anything. But he promised to do his best to reconcile the girl to the +thought that she could no longer be her own mistress, but must consent +to be taken under the protection of a loving grandfather. It touched +him to see how much the old man was encouraged and cheered by the +thought that she would come to him in the end. He even began to make +plans for the external arrangements of their future life together. As +if this were a matter that would not brook the slightest delay, he +could not be prevailed upon to stay even until the heat of the day was +over. He must go back at once and look for larger and more cheerful +lodgings, and must buy some furniture, so that he would be prepared to +receive his grandchild just as soon as she felt like coming to live +with him. Besides, he did not want to be the cause of the poor child's +wandering about in the woods any longer, for it was clear she would not +enter the house again until he had gone.</p> + +<p class="normal">Schnetz accompanied him through the park. When they were almost at the +gate he asked:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you propose to take any steps to find out the whereabouts of the +child's father? Or do you know that he has died since all this +happened?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man stood still, and his eyes took on that stern expression +which had scared off Zenz that night in the street.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The scoundrel!" he cried in a loud voice, passionately striking the +gravel path with the umbrella that he always carried in summer. "The +miserable, perjured villain! Can you seriously suppose that I would let +myself be outdone in pride by my dead daughter, who would have nothing +to do with the author of all her misery, since he appeared to have +forgotten her? Do you think me capable of such a thing as sharing this +living legacy of my daughter, that I have just found again as if by a +miracle, with that robber of women's honor--admitting even that he +would not now choose to deny all share in it? I would rather--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My good Herr Schoepf," coolly interrupted Schnetz, "in spite of your +white hairs, you are rather more passionate than is consistent with the +interest of your grandchild. Now what if anything should happen to you, +and the good girl should a second time be left an orphan in the world? +In case the worst should happen, she ought at least to know just where +she stands; to say nothing of the fact that it can never do any harm to +a child to know to whom it is indebted for the doubtful privilege of +belonging to this world."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man reflected for a moment. His manner grew more gentle.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right," said he at last. "Scold away at me; it is the old +artist blood in me that will never listen to reason--not even when +all art is passed, and only a little drudgery is left. But that +scoundrel--if you knew how cordially we received him into our home! +Though there again our pride came into play, for he was a baron, and up +to that time we had had no intimates of higher rank than artists, +except a few officers; and besides this he was a stranger, a North +German, and he pleased us immensely; for he was such a lively, +wide-awake, chivalrous young gentleman, a great hunter, and he used to +be always saying he would never rest until he had hunted lions in +Africa--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good God! Hunted lions? And his name--don't tell me, my good friend, +that his name was--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Baron F----. I had actually forgotten the name, until I found it in my +poor Lena's testament. Heaven knows what ever became of him, and +whether he was punished for his mad whim, and for all the wrong he +inflicted upon my poor child, by dying a miserable death under the +African sun, torn to pieces by wild beasts. The name seems to strike +you. Can it be that you have ever met the wretch?--or perhaps you even +know where he is?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Schnetz had recovered himself in a moment. He reflected that at best it +would be quite superfluous, while it might perhaps be extremely +disastrous, if he told the old gentleman in what intimate relations he +stood to the individual in question. Neither did he see that it would +be of any advantage to the girl, if, before she had begun to feel any +love for her grandfather, she should find a father who would be even +more of a stranger to her, and who would be able to count still less +upon her filial affection. And besides, in the interest of his +unsuspecting old tent-comrade, he shrank from making any premature +disclosures.</p> + +<p class="normal">He answered, accordingly, that it was true the name was not altogether +unknown to him; indeed, so far as he knew, the father of the girl was +still living; it was possible, however, that they would be doing her a +poor service if they should be over hasty in enlightening her on the +subject. The first thing to be done was to induce her to become +reconciled to her grandfather.</p> + +<p class="normal">As the old man was, at heart, entirely of this opinion, he took his +leave, evidently feeling much comforted and full of glad hopes; though +he still lingered a little, secretly hoping he might catch at least +another distant glimpse of the shy little creature. But the girl took +good care to keep out of sight. So that at last, with a quiet sigh, her +grandfather had to set out upon his homeward way. Schnetz stood at the +gate, looking after him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A mad farce, this life of ours!" he growled under his mustache. "The +only thing still wanting is that my old lion-hunter should come riding +past his father-in-law, smoking a cigar and gazing complacently at the +white-haired old boy, who would be powdered still whiter by the dust +kicked up by his nag's hoofs; and that then he should stop here in the +park gate, and make inquiries of Zenz in regard to the health of our +patient, playfully pinching the child's cheek just as he would any +other pretty servant girl's, or giving her a <i>pourboire</i> if she held +his horse for him for ten minutes. And then his niece, our proud little +highness! What big eyes she would make if I should tell her that the +little red-haired waiter-girl was her own, though not exactly her +legitimate, cousin!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Week after week had passed away. The autumn was approaching; the +rose-bushes on the little lawn shed their last buds, and at evening a +stealthy white mist crept over the lake, and for a whole week the +opposite shore and the distant mountains beyond disappeared completely +behind a dull, gray rain that spread a curtain over lake and land. When +at last it was drawn away the same landscape was indeed there, but in +different colors; much yellow was scattered among the tall beech woods; +the waves of the lake, usually of a transparent green, were changed to +a dull gray, and on the summits of the Zugspitz and the +Karwendelgebirge could be seen the melancholy white of the first snow.</p> + +<p class="normal">Even Rossel, who usually regarded the surrounding landscape with great +indifference, and who declared the symbolical relations of Nature to +our moods to be a sentimental prejudice, expressed himself to Kohle +with great displeasure concerning the raw air and the disgusting, +clinging fog, which, as he asserted, had come so early this year out of +pure malevolence, knowing that they were obliged to stay out here on +account of their sick friend. Then, too, the stoves, which had not been +used for many years, refused to draw; and they were soon forced to give +up heating the dining-room.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nevertheless Kohle, whose inner fire was still unquenched, would not +allow himself to be deterred from working away at his Venus allegory; +though Rossel had now lost all interest in it, and even accompanied the +progress of the work with open sneers at the idea of their attempting +to naturalize the naked beauty under such a foggy sky.</p> + +<p class="normal">But then when the autumn sun bethought itself of its might once more, +and, at high noon at least, awakened for hours all the charms of a most +glorious Indian summer, Rossel still continued in a bad humor, which he +was only careful to conceal in Felix's presence. Schnetz soon got at +the true cause of his low spirits--the almost contemptuous coldness +with which Zenz treated him. His singular passion, which had sprung +originally from an artistic whim, was only inflamed the more by this. +And now that he had learned the secret of her birth, he grew very +melancholy, actually lost his appetite, and, with the exception of the +hours he spent with Felix, shut himself up from every one, not even +making his appearance at meals. Schnetz came to the conclusion that he +had made a formal offer of marriage to the little red-haired witch, and +had been dismissed without ceremony.</p> + +<p class="normal">This strange child bore herself with great coolness in the midst of all +these temptations and perplexities. It is true she no longer laughed as +much as she had in the summer. Yet she never made her appearance with +red eyes, or with any other signs of secret grief, and even when she +had to wait on Felix her face was cheerful and unembarrassed. But on +the very first day that the convalescent was allowed to go down into +the garden, leaning on Schnetz's arm, she unexpectedly appeared before +them, her little hat on her head and in her hand a little traveling-bag +containing her few possessions, which she had sent over from the inn +across the lake. She very quietly announced that she was about to +return to the city, as she could be of no further use here. The Herr +Baron was as good as well, and within the last few weeks old Katie had +so far succeeded in breaking herself of her taste for schnapps as to be +perfectly able to look after the household without other assistance. +When Schnetz asked her whether she meant to go to her grandfather she +answered, with a fleeting blush, that "she did not know yet herself; +she had managed to get along without him hitherto, just as he had +without her. She wouldn't swear that she wouldn't go to him; she must +get to know him better first. But she would never let herself be robbed +of her liberty!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix had listened in amazement, for he had not yet been initiated into +old Schoepf's history. He spoke very kindly to the good child, and held +her hand for a moment tenderly in his. She suffered him to retain it +without returning his gentle pressure, and looked quietly past him as +though she would say: "That is all very fine, but it can do me no +good." Then she allowed Schnetz to exact a promise from her that she +would write him her address as soon as she found a lodging-place, and, +with a last "Adieu, and a quick recovery!" she marched out of the gate +with such a quick and resolute step that it would never have entered +any one's head to suppose that this was a parting at which her heart +had bled.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rossel, of whom she took no leave, sank into still deeper melancholy +when he learned of her departure, and the innocent Kohle, who was +always the last to notice anything that was going on about him, +contrived to pour oil on the fire by exhausting himself in eulogies of +this remarkable girl, who was missed now in every nook and corner. He +was forced to content himself with immortalizing, from memory, her +little nose and golden mane, as he called it, in the scene at the +cloister; in which effort he succeeded but poorly, according to the +judgment of Fat Rossel.</p> + +<p class="normal">And so, in spite of the cheerful autumn days, the atmosphere in the +villa was none of the brightest. Even in the case of the convalescent +Felix, the more he felt his strength increase, the less did he seem to +rejoice in the new lease of life that had been granted him. Those words +of greeting from his old love, that had made him so happy in his +feverish dreams, had vanished from his memory upon his return to +perfect consciousness. He only knew that her uncle had received daily +bulletins of his condition, and that they would not leave Starnberg +until all danger was over. But they might easily have shown as much +sympathy as that to a stranger, with whom they had chanced to stand in +merely formal relations. For the rest, in what respect had the +situation been changed by his adventure? Altogether to his advantage? A +life and death struggle with a boatman about a waiter-girl! Surely a +dubious test, that, of the correctness of his principles regarding +looseness and freedom of morals; a new proof of how correctly she had +acted when, with a single sharp cut, she severed her life from his. And +now, under what pretext could he give her an explanation of the real +origin of the whole affair? And what further interest could she take in +the doings of one whom she had wholly given up? What did it concern her +whether, in pursuing his own wild courses, he showed himself more or +less unworthy of her?</p> + +<p class="normal">But the pride which rebelled against making any overtures secretly +gnawed at his heart. More than once, after the wound in his hand +permitted him to scribble a few letters, he had sat down to write to +her uncle. In doing so, he could certainly put in a word in explanation +of the very innocent occasion of his bloody adventure. But in the midst +of his writing it would seem to him as if, according to the old saying, +he were making the evil worse with every excuse. And then, could he +ever hope to explain away that sin--which was in her eyes the +heaviest--his dancing with the girl?</p> + +<p class="normal">So he tore up the letters he had begun, and, gnashing his teeth, +resigned himself to the fate of suffering unjustly, and being better +than he seemed.</p> + +<p class="normal">But one day when, by some chance or other, he found himself sitting +alone on a bench in the garden with none of his watchers near--for they +took care to keep him out of the reach of all conversation--he saw, +with a glad throb at heart, her uncle gallop up and gleefully wave his +hand to him over the park-gate. He stood up, and, with a faint blush, +half of weakness, half of confusion, advanced several steps to meet the +well-known face.</p> + +<p class="normal">The lively old gentleman rushed upon him, and embraced him so cordially +that Felix had to smilingly beg for forbearance, on account of his +scarcely-healed wounds. Whereupon the uncle excused himself in great +alarm, and, carefully supporting the patient, led him back to the +bench, where he asked him, with the most candid curiosity, for all the +particulars of the unfortunate occurrence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A blessed land, this Bavaria!" he cried, rubbing his hands. "Upon my +word, there is no need for a man to go beyond the 'Pillars of +Hercules,' or among the red-skins: he can have plenty of slaughter +nearer home, in his own German fatherland! But now, out with the truth +about this girl who was the cause of the whole scrape. The moment I +heard you were wounded I asked: <i>Où est la femme?</i> When I learned she +had crossed over with you in the boat, and had been nursing you--No, +don't deny it, you young sinner! The little witch--she is said to have +red hair, too, and red hair always was dangerous to you--ha, ha! Do +you still remember that crazy, mysterious adventure--the one with the +red-haired Englishwoman at the sea-shore?--ha, ha! And now, again--But +what's the matter with you, my dear boy? You turn red and white in a +breath--maybe you've been staying out a little too--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix rose to his feet with evident exertion. His brow was clouded; his +eyes glared strangely at his jovial old friend.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uncle," he said, "you have been wrongly informed. However, that makes +no difference. The girl, who is no more to me than that mad fool of a +boatman, has left the house again, and with that it is to be hoped this +whole wretched affair will be at an end. But that you should touch upon +that other matter again, when you know how painful the remembrance of +it is to me--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I beg a thousand pardons, my dear boy! It slipped from me, as it were. +You know that, in spite of my fifty-one years, I am the same +incorrigible old <i>étourdi</i>; but now I swear by all the gods and +goddesses, never again will I make even the slightest allusion--Why, he +has grown quite pale!--this firebrand of a fellow! Look here, my dear +boy, you ought to take much greater care of yourself, and guard +yourself much more carefully against excitement. I had been meaning to +propose to you to come over and stay with us, for, after all, we have +the best right to nurse you; but since you really are weaker than I +thought, and as certain emotions might perhaps--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix stared at him in blank amazement. Then he burst out in a forced +laugh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are joking, uncle. Or perhaps, after all, you are speaking with +more design than you would have me believe. I go and live--with you! +You are very kind; but really, well as I know that all is over, still I +should hardly like to guarantee that certain emotions might not--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He broke off, and passed his hand over his forehead.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right, my boy," replied the uncle, seriously. "It is still a +little too soon. Still, sooner or later this whole absurd, lagging +affair must be set right, and the sooner, the better, in my opinion. +Just think it over. The country is just the place for arranging such a +matter easily and comfortably. If you would prefer to speak with her +alone first, you have only to give me a wink."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is this merely your private opinion, or are you perhaps acting--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Under higher orders? Not yet, unfortunately. But you know my +diplomatic talents. If you will only give me full powers--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am sorry, uncle, but I really am too weak to talk any longer in this +jesting way of matters which, after all, have their serious side too. +Excuse me for to-day; I must go back to the house; and, in conclusion, +I must beg of you not to exert yourself at all in my interest. You see +I am quite well, under the circumstances--as well as I could wish all +men were--and after I have passed a few weeks more in the country--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He tried to speak lightly; but he sank back upon the bench, and could +only motion with his hand for the old baron to leave him, for a sudden +throbbing pain in his wounded breast deprived him of speech. The uncle +stammered out a few frightened words, and then hastened back to his +horse, which he had tied outside the park-gate. He mounted +thoughtfully, and rode off shaking his head. There were some things +about the young people of nowadays that went beyond his comprehension.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">A few weeks after this meeting, Felix wrote Jansen the following +letter:</p> +<br> +<p class="right">"<span class="sc">Villa Rossel</span>, <i>last of October</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The spirit moves me to talk with you, old Dædalus; and as my physician +has seriously impressed me with the duty of sparing my lungs, I may +neither look you up myself nor tempt you to come out here to me. So I +must force you to puzzle out these awkward copy-book letters of mine, +in which you will recognize the handwriting of your pupil as little as +you will his customary style.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For, between ourselves be it said, things still look rather blue and +gloomy to me. Our friends won't have told you this; before them I have +played the lively, joyous Hotspur, merely in order to make them think +there would be no danger in leaving me out here alone. I can no longer +reconcile it to my conscience to exile my good host from the city, even +though he does put such a good face on the matter; and then there is +Kohle too--hard as it is for him to tear himself away from his bare +walls, he can't go on with his work until he has first made the +necessary designs. What do I lack here except that one thing which is +lost to me forever? You need not fear that I shall become a prey to +misanthropy or schnapps, like old Katie. I should be ashamed to show +myself to Homo, who is looking at me now while I write, with his wise, +sensible, true-hearted eyes. Perhaps he is asking me to send you his +love.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But to stay out here awhile in solitude will be of equal service to my +slowly-healing breast and to my poor, somewhat discouraged soul. Don't +let yourself be deceived, old Hans, by what our friends try to stuff +into your head: that my anxiety about whether I shall soon be able to +use my hand again in the service of the arts is gnawing at my heart. +More has been injured in this case than a finger-muscle or a joint; my +hopeful confidence has been shattered--that courage and audacity with +which I came to you in the summer. If I had ten sound hands I would +bethink myself ten times before I again sent them to school to you, for +I am as good as convinced that at the very best they would only have +acquired mechanical proficiency; while a true work of art requires much +more, for which they would hardly have the right sort of tools.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You prophesied this to me in the first hour of our reunion. Then I set +myself up to be wiser than my master. And now can you guess how I found +out that you were right? I know it is mortifying, but I must confess +it. During all the pleasant weeks I passed in your workshop I never +once felt so much myself, never felt myself so 'at the height of my +existence'--as Rossel would call it--as in those moments when I was +bringing an oarless boat safely to shore, and afterward when I was +struggling, hand-to-hand, to defend my life against a furious, +murderous scoundrel.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That a man maybe a very tolerable bully and desperado, and at the same +time be a great sculptor, your celebrated Florentine predecessor, +Benvenuto, has shown. Though then, to be sure, the days of a nobility +of force were not yet over, and many things were demanded of a complete +man which are now divided among many by our present system of division +of labor. Artistic creation and practical execution are now distinct, +and you were quite right in saying that the clay in which I was called +upon to work was to be found in public life.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But where shall I find a material that will not melt away under my +hands?</p> + +<p class="normal">"You would be no worse off in a desert of sand than I am in this +bureaucratic, well-regulated, red-tape civilization of ours, that never +permits a man to dig into the lump and stamp his own individuality upon +this commonplace routine; and, after all, it is that alone which could +give any personal satisfaction to a man constituted as I am--this +feeling, akin to the one you have in art, of having created something +which every other man could not have produced just as well by merely +following a certain formula.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It may be that my experience in my own narrow little fatherland has +given me a false idea of what a man inclined to action has to hope and +to fear in this Old World of ours. Perhaps if I could find a position +in the North German Confederation!--but even that wouldn't help me; at +least I have known Prussian Landraths with whom I would not have +changed places--men, the highest aim of whose ambition was to succeed +to a chief magistrate's position, with a white head and a soul grown +gray in the dust of official documents.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, my dear fellow, Schnetz unquestionably used the right expression. +I have stumbled into the wrong century. I should have done very well in +the middle ages, when the old savage and unruly spirit was everywhere +to be found side by side with a struggling civilization, and when one +could be a good citizen and yet go armed to the teeth. But since this +wretched anachronism cannot now be helped, I will at least do my best +to seek out a place where a bird of my plumage won't be stared at like +a strange fowl in a hen-yard, and crowed over by every well-conditioned +cock.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have seen quite enough of the New World to know that I shall be more +in my proper place there than here. Don't imagine for a moment that I +over-estimate that promised land; the positive, human, heart-quickening +possessions and enjoyments that it has to offer are few. But of this +very same unattractive nothing, from which something can be made, there +is blessed superabundance there.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Consequently, I have made up my mind, as the Yankees say, to cross the +wide water again, and to settle down there permanently. Salutary and +necessary as this step is for me, I know well that parting is not such +an easy matter. And for that very reason I want to make my preparatory +studies for it out here in the deepest solitude. I want to accustom +myself to doing without all sorts of things, and at the same time to +let my body get as hardy again as it is necessary to have it over +there.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope to attain this result in a few months. And then, before I shake +the dust of the Old World off my shoes, I will come to you again, my +oldest, best, and truest friend. All was not as it should have been +between us; but for that no one was to blame but time itself, which did +not leave us just as we were when we parted ten years ago, but has +brought to each of us many strange experiences, such as even the best +of friends can only understand when they have borne them together. And +how much has happened even in the last few months, which each is forced +to keep locked up in his own breast! To you has been accorded a great +happiness; to me have come all sorts of renunciations and bitter +experiences. Such things do not go well together. But, now that you +have almost seen the last of me, allow me, at least a little more than +heretofore, to share in your happiness, and to bask, though but for so +short a time, in our old friendship. Hereafter I shall have plenty of +time to sit in the shade.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Remember me to Fräulein Julie. I have only exchanged a few words with +her. But when I say that I think her worthy your love, you will know +how highly I esteem her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is the third day that I have been scribbling at this letter. +After every half-page, my wound begins to give warning again. However, +to hold a sword or to cock a musket is not such exhausting work as to +guide a pen. Old Berlichingen managed to get along, though in a far +worse plight.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Remember me to our friends; I look forward with the greatest pleasure +to seeing them again, and to celebrating my last German Christmas with +you all. And now good-by, old fellow! <i>Hic et ubique</i>,</p> + +<p class="right">"Your <span style="letter-spacing:5px"> </span><span class="sc">Felix</span>."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">When Jansen received this letter he was at work in his studio making a +bust of his child. Julie sat at his side looking on; little Frances +crouched in a high chair and asked a great many droll, sage questions; +and in spite of the gray autumn sky it was cozier in the large room +than in the old days, when the summer air came wafted in through the +wide-opened windows. Even now a sparrow flew in, now and then, through +the only open pane, and a great nosegay of autumn flowers stood on the +window-sill. A small fire flickered in the stove, and Julie's beautiful +face and the child's wise eyes gave out a warmth which had once been +sadly wanting here. Yet, notwithstanding this, Jansen's brow still +remained clouded; and he left it to his friend to answer the questions +of the child, while he worked on in silence.</p> + +<p class="normal">For weeks she had been aware of this shade upon his spirits without +having been able to discover its cause, and to cheer him up she had +begged him for a bust of the child. Heretofore she had never come to +his studio unless accompanied by Angelica. Now she came every day with +the child, who was passionately fond of her, staid the whole forenoon, +and then took little Frances home with her to dinner, which was always +a fresh treat to the little one. Yet delighted as her friend was at +this arrangement and at this confidential intercourse with his beloved, +the shadow that rested on his spirits did not depart. At last she asked +him directly what it was that oppressed him. She earnestly besought him +to tell her, claiming it as her just right; for unless he did so she +would be compelled to think that she herself was the cause of his +sadness. The fresh outburst of passion with which he greeted this +speech, and which she herself was continually obliged to keep within +bounds, ought to have satisfied her on this point. But his strange +depression was still left unexplained. She must have patience with +him--he had entreated of her time and time again. Things would get +better and come out all right in the end. He loved her far too well to +embitter her life with all the wretched troubles he had to deal with. +If she could help him in any way he would not spare her or be ashamed +to call upon her for aid.</p> + +<p class="normal">And now when he had finished reading Felix's letter, he handed it, in +silence, to his sweetheart, and stepped to the window while she read. +For a time it was perfectly still in the great room; little Frances had +clambered down from her high chair, and was busily engaged in dressing +and undressing a doll that Julie had given her only that morning. No +sound could be heard but the singing of the fire in the iron stove and +the hopping of the birds on the shelf above, where the plaster casts +stood.</p> + +<p class="normal">Even after Julie had read the letter to the end, she did not at once +break the silence. Not until some time had elapsed did she send the +child up to Aunt Angelica with her love, and the question whether she +might be allowed to stay up there for a quarter of an hour. Then she +stepped up to the window where Jansen stood in silence, laid her hand +on his shoulder, and said:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now if I should guess what it is that secretly troubles you, my +dearest friend, would you confess it to me then?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He turned, and passionately folded her in his arms. "Julie!" he +said--"what good would that do? There are some difficulties that are +insurmountable. I can only feel sure you have not vanished from the +world when I hold you to my heart, press my lips to yours, feel my hand +in yours--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be still!" she said, smiling, and gently disengaging herself from him. +"I didn't send Frances away for you to forget all that you have so +solemnly promised me. Let us be sensible, my dear friend--indeed we +must be. Sit down over there, and try, for once, to listen to me, +instead of looking at me. Do you know, I consider it positively +discourteous of you to pay no attention to my wisest words, merely +because, after such a long acquaintance, your eyes still find something +about me to 'study?'"</p> + +<p class="normal">"O Julie!" he said, and a sad smile passed over his face. "If words +could only help--if the sense and understanding and all the strength of +soul of a noble woman could but avail against the treachery and +unreasonableness of gods and men! But speak, and I will close my eyes +and listen."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know, you and your young friend are sick of one and the same +illness?" she now said, for he had covered his eyes with his hand and +taken a seat on the sofa, while she stood leaning upon the window-sill.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I and Felix? I don't understand you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have both come into the world too late, you are both wandering +anachronisms, as he says of himself alone in his letter. His energy and +your artistic nature to-day no longer find the soil and air that are +good for them, and that they deserve. When I look about me, dearest, I +say to myself: 'Where are now the people, the prince, the century to +appreciate this power, to lay commissions, reward, honor, and +admiration at the feet of this creative spirit? to post sonnets on the +door of his workshop, to make a passage for him when he strides among +the multitude, as we read that the ancients did, and the great men, +under the rule of the famous popes and the pomp-loving princes?'--Oh! +my dearest friend, I could weep tears of blood when I think how, +instead of all this, you live here, appreciated only by a circle of +good friends and enthusiastic disciples, and are made the butt of +stupid malice or blind ignorance in all the newspapers! And then, when +a demand arises for the production of some work to adorn a square or a +building, wretched quacks, who are not worthy to unloose the latchet of +your shoes, come running up by all sorts of back-stairs and secret +ways, and steal the prize away from you, and you remain hidden in the +dark! Now, don't shake your head! I know how you think about the +applause of the masses, and how little you begrudge it to the poor +wretches who hear no divine voice within them. But be honest now--if +this monument"--she mentioned the name of a man to whom a statue had +just been erected, on which occasion Jansen's application had, as +usual, been rejected--"if this commission had fallen to you--and then +another had followed close upon that--how differently you would stand +in your own esteem when you had become a central figure of your time! +To say nothing of the fact that then you would be able to close the +factory, as you call it, next door, and would have no need to strike a +blow of the mallet that did not come straight from the heart!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She had talked herself into a state of great excitement; and now, when +he looked up at her, the shining brightness of her look and the soft +glow of her cheeks enraptured him. But he controlled himself and +remained seated.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What you say is all very wise and true," he said. "But for all that +you don't quite hit the sore spot. I have known all this ever since my +eyes were first opened to what went on around me, to what some people +produce and other people admire. Yet in spite of that I have become +what I am, and what I could no more have helped becoming than I could +have helped coming into the world. Remember, too, how much better off I +am than our friend Felix. As far as the outside world goes, we are both +hampered and confined. The age has as little appreciation of high art +as of the great personal activity toward which all his powers and +wishes urge him. But I can at least put before myself and a half dozen +true friends what there is in me, even if it has no fuller life than +this; while our friend's special strengths can only reveal themselves +in putting him at odds with everybody.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And, when I look about me here, will not all these dumb creatures of +mine continue to be my companions through life? I sometimes seem to +myself like a father who has a number of daughters, all of them well +brought up and each dear to his heart; and yet, loath as he is to lose +any one of them out of his sight, it seems harder and harder to him, as +the years go by, that no one of them finds a husband, and they all +remain under his roof unprovided for. However, that is fate, and one +learns to accept whatsoever the irresponsible powers bestow upon us. +But that which comes from mortals--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He suddenly sprang up, ran his hand through his hair, and stepped so +close to his sweetheart, that Julie, little as she feared him even in +his anger, involuntarily retreated a step.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Felix was right," he said, in a hollow voice. "There is only one way +of escape. These chains or others--we can never be free except on the +other side of the ocean. Julie, if you could only make up your mind, if +you feel as terribly in earnest as I do for our happiness--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My friend," she interrupted him, "I know what you would say. But the +more earnestly I long for your--<i>our</i> happiness--the more must I insist +upon our striving to attain it in a perfectly prosaic and sober way. +Your friend is a born adventurer, a circumnavigator--a world conqueror. +Your world and mine is this studio. Can we take it with us in the ship? +And do you think a finer sense of art is to be found among the Yankees +or the red-skins than among our countrymen? No, my dearest Jansen, I +think that with courage and good sense we shall be able to free +ourselves even on this side of the water. You men are masters in +despairing, we women in hoping. And, besides, the end of our year of +probation is still far enough off."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hope!" he cried, gnashing his teeth. "If a tigress had me in her +claws, you might, with far more show of reason, call out to me only to +give up hope with life! But this woman! Do you know a more terrible +enemy of human happiness than this lie--this cold, rouged, heartless, +unnatural lie? If she only hated me as immeasurably as she pretends to +love me, truly, I myself should think it too soon to despair. A mortal +can become satiated even with hate; and malice, too, is something of +which one can get tired. But what is to be hoped when it is all merely +a game, and the innermost nature of one's enemy is the nature of a +comedian? Every spark of conscience has been extinguished in this +wretched woman since her girlhood; her life is to her nothing +but a <i>rôle</i>; her love and hate have become merely a question of +costumes--applause and money are her highest and holiest conceptions. +And she fears for both, if she lets me go free. It is flattering to +her--one success more--to be able to pose before herself and the world +as an injured innocent, a robbed wife, a mother whose child has been +taken from her--and for that reason she refuses all my entreaties and +offers with indignation, for she knows well that I would rather give up +any happiness in life than let her have the child. If you had read the +letters I have wasted upon her in these last few weeks! Letters which, +I can truly say, were written with my heart's blood--they would have +made a tigress human; and this woman---read what she answers me! I have +carried on this wretched correspondence behind your back, in the hope +of taking upon myself all that was bitter and humiliating--for what +words have I not stooped to use!--I have borne all the agony of these +last weeks, in order that I might at last lay nothing but the happy +results at your feet. Now read what sort of echo came to me from that +stony heart, and then say whether a man need necessarily be a master in +despairing, to give up all hope here!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He went to the large closet, unlocked a drawer, and took out several +dainty-looking letters, that diffused a sweet perfume through the room. +Julie read one after the other, while he threw himself down on the sofa +again and stared at the ceiling. The letters were written in a regular, +delicate, clear hand, and in a style which might be taken as a model of +diplomatic art. There were no traces of mere declamation, of +complaining or accusing. The writer had resigned herself to accept an +unhappy fate, for she felt herself too weak and not cold-hearted enough +to take up the battle with him: a battle in which the man to whom she +had given all stood opposed to her. This she could prevail upon herself +to do, for it was only her own happiness that she was sacrificing. But +she could never be brought to give up her claim to her child. The day +might come when the longing for a mother's love might awaken in the +poor child's heart. Then no one should have it in his power to say to +her: "Your mother has no heart for you; she has given you over to +strangers." Upon passages like this, which were repeated in each +letter, especial care had been bestowed, reminding one, here and there, +of the stage, and the last rhetorical flourish just before the curtain +falls. The last sheet, which had been received only a few days before, +concluded as follows:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know all, all that you would so carefully conceal from me. It is not +only your wish to have done with the past once and forever, and to give +me back my freedom--for, according to your idea of my character, it +would cost me no effort whatsoever to live as if all were at an end +between us, especially as I do not bear your name on the stage. No, I +know what it is that not only makes you wish for a complete separation +from me, but that makes every delay unbearable. You have fallen into +the net of a dangerous beauty. If my old love for you were not stronger +than my self-love, there would be nothing I should more earnestly wish +for, or would more eagerly aid by all the means in my power, than your +marriage with this girl. She would justify me, would raise me to honor +again in your eyes, and would force from you the confession that you +had cast away your only true friend in order to nurse a serpent in your +bosom. But I am nobler than it is for my advantage to be: not, I admit, +altogether for your sake. The hope of seeing you return to me is too +tempting for me not to be willing to help you to have this experience. +But to relinquish our child to this stranger--who is said to be as +clever as she is beautiful, and as beautiful as she is heartless--to +give my blessed angel, who hovers near me in my dreams, to this +serpent--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Julie had involuntarily read the last few lines aloud, as if she +scorned to soften down any accusation that was directed against +herself. Her disgust and indignation would not permit her to finish the +sentence--the letter fell from her hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear friend," she said, "let us read no further. I must confess you +are quite right; this is hopeless. Kindness is thrown away upon such an +unnatural character as you so rightly called it, and force--where is +the force that we could use? But as for surrendering--hopelessly, and +without striking a blow--no matter how much talent I might have for +despairing, if I were opposed to this woman, I would either conquer or +die!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He sprang up and seized her hand. "Julie!" he cried, "you put new life +into me. Never shall she enjoy such a triumph--rather let us flee to +the ends of the earth beyond the reach of her hand--rather let us go to +the Yankees and the red-skins, but with you at my heart and our child +in our arms--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head earnestly. "No, no, no!" she said. "No self-imposed +banishments! It is a good thing I have my thirty-one years behind me. +Else this youthful enthusiast might succeed in the end in carrying me +off with him, and we should make a great mistake that would soon make +both him and me very unhappy. The land across the ocean is no place for +you, my beloved master. You have never cared to take part in the +modern, sentimental nonsense in our Old World; what sort of a figure +would you cut in the midst of all the humbug of the New? And as for +your giving up your art, and living only for your wife and child--how +long do you suppose you could bear that? How long would it take for the +woman for whose sake you had done this to become a burden to you? And +even if you could rest content with such a life, do you think I would +be satisfied with it? True, I have confessed that I love this man--this +violent, wicked, good, precious Hans Jansen--but I want to see him as +great, as famous, as proud, and as happy as it is possible for any one +to be in this wretched world; to love in him not only the husband and +father, but also the great master, who compels the whole world to join +with me in love and admiration. Oblige me, my dearest friend, by +throwing that correspondence there into the stove, and promise me not +to write any more. In return I promise you that I will ponder day and +night upon the best way for us to free ourselves. And if our year of +probation should pass away without our having succeeded before God and +man--here is my hand upon it! I will be yours--if not in the eyes of +men, certainly in the sight of God; and I believe I am old enough to +know what an honorable woman ought to do and to answer for."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Our other friends, too, had lost in the autumn mists more and more of +that sunny, paradisiacal frame of mind which they enjoyed when we first +knew them.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rosenbusch went daily to his studio; but he did little there except to +feed his mice, and to take his flute out of its case, oil and clean it, +without making any attempt to call forth a sound. He would stand for an +hour before the "Battle of Lützen," which was now completed, and heave +sighs that sounded anything but triumphant. He had long since prepared +a new canvas, on which he was intending to paint the entry of Gustavus +Adolphus into Munich, a theme which he hoped would interest even the +"Art Association." But not a stroke of the brush had he done as yet. To +tell the truth, the temperature in his studio was well calculated to +scare away the muses, and to freeze up the sweet tones of his flute. +Even the mice, who were more accustomed to it, squealed uncomfortably +in their little wire cage; while their friend and master, wrapping the +mediæval horse-blanket about his painter's jacket, strode thoughtfully +up and down, casting a look of displeasure at the cold stove every time +he passed it, as if he despised it as a friend who only remained +faithful as long as it was kept warm itself. The money he had last +received, for illustrating a book of soldiers' songs, had long since +been spent. It is true, a dealer in antiquities had made him a very +considerable offer for an old casket with a skillfully-ornamented +silver cover, which was said to have originally belonged to no less a +person than General Illo. But he could not make up his mind to barter +this valuable old relic for vulgar fire-wood. He was too proud to +borrow of Elfinger, who had hard work to live himself; or to reveal the +state of his circumstances to the other inmates of the house. If +any one chanced to come across him wandering about alone in his +strange disguise, he declared, with a beaming face, that he was too +full-blooded to bear the heat of a stove. Besides, he was in one of his +poetical moods, and was brooding over an epic poem which was to treat +of the astonishing and pitiful love-adventure of the Swedish commander +with Gustel von Blasewitz. And composing a poem was a very heating +occupation, unless the "shade of a laurel-wreath" was there to cool the +forehead on which stood the anxious sweat of the muses.</p> + +<p class="normal">Toward noon he threw aside his horse-blanket and went around to +Angelica's room, where it was warm and cozy. The good girl led the same +quiet, industrious life now as before; sold one flower-piece after +another, cheaply but surely; painted the children of tender parents who +had no money to spare for art, but yet liked to see their <i>salon</i> +adorned with the red-cheeked curly-heads of their own flesh and blood; +and had certainly no good cause for mourning over the pining away of +the beautiful summer. And yet, she too was perceptibly depressed in +spirits. Whether it was her righteous anger at the flirting and +profitless pangs of her red-bearded neighbor, who since the excursion +on the water had only been permitted to exchange a few hasty glances +and notes with his sweetheart (her father having found out about the +Starnberg adventure, and had a scene with Aunt Babette); or whether the +clouded happiness of her beautiful friend caused her silent pain, or +awakened in her breast a very pardonable longing for a similar +fulfillment of her own earthly mission--who shall say?</p> + +<p class="normal">She herself never suffered a word of complaint to escape her; and +exhibited, particularly to her secretly-betrothed friend, the most +contented face in the world. But the change in her spirits did not +escape Rosenbusch. He had to submit to be lectured by her oftener than +ever, and in a far sharper tone, not only because of his inactivity, +but also more particularly because of the aimless and unmanly way in +which he carried on his love affair. She would say such harsh things to +him about it, that any one else would have run out of the room. But he, +meanwhile, would water her flowers with the most penitent and humble +mien, would wash her brushes, and end by assuring her that he never +felt so well as when she was blowing him up; he felt then that he had +no better friend in the world than she was. But he would not be such a +fool as to improve, for he only interested her because of his faults. +She had no appreciation of his praiseworthy qualities, inasmuch as she +could not abide poems, <i>adagios</i>, and mice. Whereupon she used first to +laugh, and then, with a shrug of the shoulders and a meaning sigh, to +subside into silence.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nor did "Edward the Fat" pass his days any more cheerfully, though he +was surrounded once more by his city comforts, and was relieved of the +hated task of enjoying Nature. For the first time in his life this +spoiled child of fortune had a wish unfulfilled, and, what sharpened +the sting of the privation, a wish that by no means aspired to far-off +clouds and stars, but lay apparently within reach of his hands. +Heretofore he had had no cause to complain of the unkindness and +cruelty of women. The singular contrast between his indolent, sluggish, +and phlegmatic manner, and the keen intellectual power that flashed +from his eyes and played about his lips, to say nothing of the +contemptuous way in which he was in the habit of treating the proudest +and most exacting women, provoked them to enter the lists with him, and +to challenge and abuse him, until, very unexpectedly, they found +themselves worsted. But now, for the first time, he had encountered a +being to whom he was forced to stoop in every sense of the word; for +she was neither beautiful, nor educated, nor particularly prudish, nor +even of good birth. And this strange creature treated him with the most +persistent coldness, remained as insensible as a stick to his tenderest +words and most heart-felt homage, and, finally, slipped out of his +hands altogether. For, in spite of all their endeavors, neither he nor +old Schoepf succeeded in discovering the girl's hiding-place.</p> + +<p class="normal">Ever since Schnetz had let him into the secret, Rossel had become more +and more intimate with the old grandfather, and had even proposed to +him to accept of a room in his house. The old man, who, in the mean +while, had moved into somewhat larger quarters, so as to be ready to +receive the girl the moment she should knock at his door, declined this +offer, but was very glad to pass his lonely hours in the company of his +brilliant young friend. They would spend hours--for neither of them had +anything to do--deep in discussions about what was really the main +thing in art, or what should or should not be painted; and it was only +when they heard the door-bell ring at some unusual time that they would +both start up and listen eagerly, hoping it might possibly be the lost +girl returning penitently to her best friends.</p> + +<p class="normal">The only ones whose spirits remained unaffected were Kohle and Schnetz; +the latter, because his Thersites disposition had struck its roots too +deeply into his nature for him to be either elated or depressed by +anything he experienced; Kohle, on the other hand, because, like the +happy genii of his Hölderlin, he "soared in the celestial light above," +and was incapable of giving his heart to the fate of mortals, no matter +how closely he might be bound to them by ties of friendship, for more +than a few hours at a time. During these misanthropical November days, +Schnetz, when not engaged in the service of his little highness, sat in +his den of <i>silhouettes</i>, cut out bitter satires, smoked, read Rabelais +at Rossel's suggestion, and, for whole days at a time, spoke to no one +except his pale little wife; while Kohle, in a far more wretched, +unheated room, passed his days making new designs which, with fingers +stiff with cold, but with a heart all aglow with happiness, he sketched +on the back of a large fire-screen instead of on paper, which he had +not the money to buy.</p> + +<p class="normal">Under these circumstances it was not to be wondered at that the two +meetings of the Paradise Club, which took place before the end of the +year, were not attended by that festal flow of spirits that had +characterized most of their predecessors. Old Schoepf stayed away +altogether; Rossel did not speak a word; Jansen did not make his +appearance until nearly midnight, and sat brooding with a dark look in +his bright eyes, while he emptied glass after glass without being +warmed by his potations. Elfinger, whose relations to his pious +sweetheart grew every day more hopeless, and had begun to seriously +tell upon his spirits, was scarcely more talkative, and the jokes with +which Rosenbusch favored the company had, in Rossel's opinion, a biting +flavor, like preserved fruit that has begun to ferment. The younger and +less prominent members felt the weight that rested on the whole circle, +but were either too modest or too poorly supplied with brains to +succeed in enlivening matters at all; and an uncomfortable feeling +began to creep over first one and then the other, that perhaps in the +life of their society, as in that of every human alliance, the moment +had arrived when a sudden decline succeeds to a period of highest +prosperity, and when a swift dissolution appears more dignified and +more welcome than a long era of gradual decline and decay.</p> + +<p class="normal">There was one member who did not make his appearance on these evenings, +although he was still in the city and apparently in just the mood for +such festivities--namely, Angelos Stephanopulos. This or that one had +encountered him, on foot or in a carriage, acting as knight to his +lady, the Russian countess, who had been away for a few months, but had +now returned to that same private hotel where--though at some distance +from the nocturnal musical orgies--Irene and her uncle were awaiting +reassuring reports from Italy. Irene had satisfied the demands of +etiquette by making a formal call upon her fellow-lodger, but had +avoided any more intimate intercourse.</p> + +<p class="normal">Upon this point her uncle had submitted all the more readily to his +young governess because, at bottom, he felt more aversion than liking +for all but martial or dancing music. But another promise which his +strict little niece exacted from him, that he would never say a word to +any one about her former relations to Felix, appeared to him so useless +that he did not think it a matter of conscience to keep it any longer +than while they were all such near neighbors in the country.</p> + +<p class="normal">At his first meeting with Schnetz he informed his friend and +brother-in-arms of the whole story.</p> + +<p class="normal">He earnestly besought him to exert all his influence to rouse Felix +from his dogged silence. Only a single visit from him--now, in the +interesting paleness of convalescence--just to thank them for their +sympathy during his illness; and the world must have turned topsy-turvy +since he was young, if these two estranged lovers did not make up +again.</p> + +<p class="normal">Schnetz listened to these propositions with his usual morose calmness, +abused his imperial terribly, and then remarked--that this commission +was not to his taste. He had too great a regard for Felix to help him +to a bride who could not love him just as he was, with all his faults +and weaknesses. He doubted himself whether he should be doing the young +man a favor if he did so. He was keeping house very comfortably out +there in the solitary villa, going into the woods every day with Homo +and a good double-barreled gun; and even though he did not shoot much, +he unquestionably killed time after a much more manly fashion than if +he were here striving to regain the favor and forgiveness of a spoiled +princess. Besides, he was intending to put his affairs in order soon +after Christmas, and then to set sail in the early spring; for he had +taken it into his head that the air in America would agree with him +better than that of his native land.</p> + +<p class="normal">This announcement threw the uncle into the liveliest state of alarm. He +depicted to his friend in such dark colors the future that threatened +him, if Felix should carry out this resolution, the prospect of the +life-long guardianship of a Fräulein who would soon be getting +<i>passée</i>, who would grow more whimsical and unmanageable from year to +year, and who would make him suffer for the wrong which she herself had +done to her own happiness by her proud obstinacy; he besought him in +such moving terms not to leave him in the lurch, now of all times, that +finally Schnetz took pity upon him and promised to at least seize the +first opportunity to question Felix concerning the real state of his +feelings.</p> + +<p class="normal">For a moment he felt tempted, now that they were on the subject of +confessions, to give this lively bachelor, who only wanted to get rid +of his ward in order that he might once more enjoy "life" perfectly +unrestrainedly, a hint in respect to certain natural duties toward +another orphaned child. But a dark presentiment, that possibly a more +suitable hour might come for such a disclosure, restrained him. And, +moreover, as Red Zenz appeared to have vanished from the face of the +earth, there would be no use, for the present, in awakening paternal +feelings of which the visible object was perhaps lost for ever.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Thus the year drew toward its end, and Christmas stood before the door.</p> + +<p class="normal">In former years they had always had a Christmas-tree at the Paradise +Club. But this time the friends felt disposed to celebrate a more +domestic festival, in a narrower circle. In the course of this year +they had been drawn closer to one another, and had withdrawn more and +more from the other members of "Paradise." Nor was Angelica any longer +the only representative of her sex among them, and the only one thus +excluded from the men's festivals. And so it was determined that +Christmas Eve should be celebrated in the studio-building; that the +tree should be set up in Rosenbusch's room, and the table laid in +Angelica's--a plan which the two neighbors laid before the others as a +joint idea of their own. Each deposited his contribution toward the +preparations, in a money-box of which Angelica was the custodian.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nor did Rosenbusch fail to contribute his share, although Angelica +tried by all sorts of pretexts to prevent him. How he had suddenly +come into possession of money again--for he had not sold any of his +work--was a mystery to Angelica, until she helped him to clear out his +studio in order to make room for the Christmas decorations. Then she +missed the silver-mounted box, his most precious treasure. Upon her +reproaching him about the matter he replied:</p> + +<p class="normal">"What would you have, my dear friend? It is my misfortune to be a +single man. If I were the father of a family and could not pay my rent +I should be relieved of all want. For you must know that the Art +Society looks at the distress rather than at the talent of those of +whom it buys pictures. Help me to a wife, and I promise you not to +dispose of another article from my museum."</p> + +<p class="normal">And then for several days he was in the brightest of spirits, hammering +and working as though he were engaged in arranging the studio for his +own wedding, and, in the short intervals of rest, taking his flute from +its case again.</p> + +<p class="normal">Christmas Eve came at last. In the afternoon the hermit of the lake +returned to the city, with the faithful Homo, who had now become his +inseparable companion. Felix's first visit was to Jansen. They were +alone together for some hours--hours that carried them back to the time +of their early friendship, so freely did each open his heart, and so +keenly did they realize once more what they were and always would be to +one another. Yet they both avoided touching upon the details of their +past, as though it were taken for granted that each had an accurate +knowledge of the other's history.</p> + +<p class="normal">That Jansen was struggling impatiently to free himself from his bonds, +and that Felix had given up all hope of ever finding his old happiness +again, was all that they confessed. Then they went, arm-in-arm, to +visit Julie, who received her lover's friend with all her sweetness and +kindness. It did Felix good to be with these two happy people, and he +expressed this feeling with so much warmth that Julie thought him +extremely charming, and purposely turned the conversation upon his +emigration plans in order to dissuade him from them, if it were still +possible. But he remained unshaken; and it seemed as if, in spite of +all this kind friendship, he could not wait for the time when he should +set foot upon the shore beyond the ocean. What it was that was driving +him away was not referred to by a word.</p> + +<p class="normal">Before the evening's festival, they separated for a few hours. Jansen +and Julie had first to light a Christmas-tree for little Frances and +her foster brothers and sisters, and it was eight o'clock when they +reached the studios.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet they were not too late, but, on the contrary, had to wait for +some time down-stairs in Jansen's rooms with the other friends, +until Rosenbusch, who was always finding some last improvements to +make in the decorations, gave the signal by ringing a hoarse, old +hand-bell--like his other treasures, an historically authenticated +household utensil of the famous Friedlander.</p> + +<p class="normal">Besides their intimate circle, Felix, Rossel, Elfinger, Schnetz and +Kohle, no one had been invited but old Schoepf. It had cost much +trouble to persuade the old man to come, for on this day he missed his +lost grandchild more bitterly than ever. Once persuaded, he seemed, in +his silent way, greatly touched; though he strove not to disturb the +merry mood of the others. Then, too, there was so much to be seen and +admired and laughed at in the Christmas room--Rosenbusch had so +surpassed himself, had arranged such tasteful decorations, had made so +many verses and prepared so many mottoes, that it was a full hour +before the distribution of presents was over.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then when the lights on the tree had begun to sputter and go out, one +after the other, Schnetz suddenly produced a box, in which, up to this +time, he had kept his present concealed. It was a series of the most +amusing silhouettes, which he now passed in review on a white screen by +means of a magic-lantern. They represented the events and adventures of +the past year, none of those present escaping without a full share of +ridicule. The exhibitor himself was not spared, and it is scarcely +necessary to say that his knightship of the rueful countenance was +unmercifully made fun of.</p> + +<p class="normal">While every one was enthusiastically demanding a repetition of this +shadow dance, Angelica slipped away to look after the supper, like a +careful hostess. At length she reappeared and invited them to table; +whereat Rosenbusch ventured to remark that it was high time they should +cut a door through the wall so that they might visit one another in a +friendly, neighborly way, without having to go round by the cold +corridor. The confusion of the moment permitted Angelica, who was +usually very strict in keeping this light-hearted red-beard within +bounds, to ignore this somewhat audacious remark.</p> + +<p class="normal">So they entered the other festal hall, in the centre of which stood a +tastefully-laid table covered with shining dishes, plates and glasses, +ornamented with flowers and surmounted by a slender miniature +Christmas-tree, from which hung candy and sweetmeats for the dessert. +But we must unfortunately deny ourselves the pleasure of describing the +joys of the table, to which this select company now abandoned itself. +It is enough to know that it was one of those singularly happy evenings +when everything succeeds, when the serious vein is not too heavy, and +the merriment not too light, the sentiment not too gushing, and the +jollity not too noisy. No one could resist the charm of the cheery +present, or brood with sad thoughts upon the past or future; and even +Felix and old Schoepf soon had no further need to force their feelings, +in order to join in the merry laughter over Schnetz's biting jests and +Rosenbusch's inexhaustible drolleries.</p> + +<p class="normal">Besides all this, the domestic talents of the two ladies stood the test +most gloriously. Angelica's simple entertainment found favor even with +Rossel; and a hidden genius was discovered in Julie for brewing an +incomparable punch, according to a receipt which she had inherited from +her father, the general. It was, therefore, merely an expression of the +universal feeling when Rosenbusch rose, and in neat verses, which +unfortunately have not been preserved, proposed the health of their two +lady-friends, the foster-sisters of this circle, who had so wisely +administered the peculiarly feminine office of providing for the +earthly wants of poor humanity.</p> + +<p class="normal">This toast, which was received with the wildest applause, was followed +by a number of merry, gallant, and serious harangues; and even the two +ladies mustered up sufficient courage to make some pretty little +speeches, which, it is true, they did not succeed in finishing without +considerable blushing and hesitation.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">In the midst of a pause that followed the reading of some singularly +tender and beautiful verses by the hitherto silent Kohle, the happy +party heard the clock on a neighboring tower strike the hour of +midnight, and it was only when the twelfth stroke had died away that +their solemnly exorcised spirits seemed to wake once more from their +enchantment.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rossel rose, went up to Kohle, and embraced him, calling him "du" for +the first time. He declared that Father Hölderlin looked down from his +blissful heights upon his son, with whom he was well pleased. The +others, too, roused themselves, and expressed, each according to his +fashion, their thanks to the greatly embarrassed poet, to whose health +the only one who could have been jealous of him--the poetical +Rosenbusch--proposed, amid the enthusiastic acclamations of all, that +they should drink the last glass of punch.</p> + +<p class="normal">Schnetz propounded the question whether sufficient cause could be shown +why this was and must be the last glass. But Angelica, although she +protested that she wished to exert no pressure upon any one else, +persisted, for her own part, in withdrawing; and as the men, too, felt +that the festal mood of the evening had reached its height, it was +decided to leave the faithful Fridolin to extinguish the lights, and to +start together on their homeward ways.</p> + +<p class="normal">Jansen escorted his betrothed; Rosenbusch offered his arm to Angelica; +behind them came Elfinger with Kohle, of whom he had begged a copy of +his poem, promising in return to give him a few hints in the art of +delivery. Schnetz and Rossel, one on either side, supported old +Schoepf, so as to keep him from falling, for he found it hard to walk +on the slippery pavement, which was covered over with a thin layer of +ice.</p> + +<p class="normal">The last was Felix. His voice had not been heard for some time back, +and no one noticed when, without saying good-night, he turned into a +side-street, and went his way alone.</p> + +<p class="normal">Pulling his hat far down over his face, he rushed as hastily through +the raw night as though he were somewhere impatiently expected. His +wounds, which were still scarcely healed, pained him; the fiery drink +had heated his blood after his long abstinence; and restless, joyless +thoughts throbbed through his brain. Before he was aware of it, he +found himself in the square before the hotel where Irene lived. Schnetz +had let fall a word, as if by chance, about their having taken other +rooms, because of the musical <i>soirées</i>. Where ought he look for her +window now? They light no Christmas-trees in inns; besides, it was past +midnight, and in only a few of the windows was the light still burning.</p> + +<p class="normal">His eyes fastened themselves unconsciously upon a bright window in the +second story. The dark outline of a woman's figure was visible there +for a moment; but he could not make out whether it was she who was +peering out through the frosted window into the Christmas night. Then +the figure drew back again, but he remained.</p> + +<p class="normal">He stood leaning against a lamp-post, insensible now to the chilling +fog and the pain of his wounds. It seemed to him as if he were already +on the shore of the New World, and between him and that bright window +the broad ocean stretched. Never had he realized so clearly that he +could never be happy without this girl, and yet he had never been so +far removed from every hope. He said to himself that he must not return +to this spot so long as he remained in the city, unless he would see +the courage which he had mustered up with so much pain broken again and +his determination shaken anew. He must forget once for all that there +was a bright window here; he swore it to himself with the full +consciousness of how hard it would be for him to keep his vow.</p> + +<p class="normal">At this moment the light in the window went out. It made a cold shudder +pass over him, as if he had received a confirmation of his fears that +all was at an end forever. Then he roused himself, and slowly started +on the way to his lodgings.</p> + +<p class="normal">In spite of the late hour, the streets were full of life. The Christmas +mass, which lasted from twelve to one, still kept many pious or curious +people on their feet. Felix had not gone far when he overtook two +couples, who seemed to be in even less of a hurry than himself. A +large, stout woman walked in front, hanging on the arm of a young man +who appeared to be telling her some very amusing story, for she +laughed incessantly in a deep, coarse voice, every minute turning her +head--whose thick, black hair was but loosely wound with a red +kerchief--that she might look at the second couple, as if she wondered +why they did not laugh too. The latter were not walking arm-in-arm; but +the man kept close to the girl and spoke incessantly to her in a low +voice, while she walked by his side with drooping head, as though she +did not belong to him, and were paying no attention to his talk.</p> + +<p class="normal">The light of the street-lamp now fell upon the group, brightly +illuminating a little hat with a black feather, that sat jauntily upon +a gold-red chignon.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Zenz!" cried Felix in surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl suddenly stood still, and looked around her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it really you?" he cried, hastily stepping to her side. "Where have +you been hiding all this time? But I see you are with company. I won't +detain you."</p> + +<p class="normal">She still stood there, without moving or answering a word. But her +companion, an insolent, dissipated-looking young fellow--apparently a +young salesman--took upon himself to reply for her, and declared that +he would not allow any one "to strike up an acquaintance with his girl +in the street," in his presence, and without an introduction to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">With this he offered Zenz his arm to take her to the others, who had +only just discovered what was taking place, and were looking round +toward the stragglers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have nothing to say here, my good friend," replied Felix, with the +greatest coolness. "If Fräulein Zenz has no objection to standing here +with me, I have a good deal to say to her, and you can wait until I +have done, unless you should prefer to go on. How is it, Zenz? Have you +five minutes to spare for an old friend?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl now quickly raised her eyes to his and said, in a timid tone +that sounded strangely from her lips:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it true that you haven't forgotten me yet?"--Then, before he could +answer, she turned to the others:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You needn't give yourselves any further trouble about me; I can find +my way fast enough. Goodnight!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hullo!" cried the young fellow, "that <i>would</i> be cool--to drop a man +in the street in this style when another comes along. Damn it, sir--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He had just turned in a threatening way upon Felix, and had called up +the others to bear witness that he didn't intend to suffer any such +treatment, when the big, black-haired woman recognized Felix, and +hastily whispered a few words to the excited man that seemed to make a +marked impression on him. He gave vent to a few more furious +expressions, and then suddenly burst out into a hoarse laugh. Making an +ironical bow to Zenz, and calling a coarse epithet after her, he turned +upon his heel and followed the two others, who went on their way as if +nothing had happened.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nice company I find you in," said Felix, drawing nearer to the +trembling girl. "I thought it likely you couldn't feel very happy among +them. Come, you must tell me now what sort of people they are, and how +you have been living since I saw you last. If I saw rightly, that big +woman was the 'Black Therese.' Poor child! things must have gone very +badly with you, to make you take refuge with <i>her</i>!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She hung on his arm, and let him lead her down the street. He saw, with +heart-felt pity, how pale and haggard she had grown, and what poor +clothes she wore. Nor could she be induced, at first, to speak a word; +yet her breast heaved as if it would burst, and every now and then she +stood still and drew a deep breath. But his kind words gradually melted +the ice. She told him that she had led a wretched life; had sought in +vain for work, and had finally seen no other way than to go back once +more to her old acquaintance, who had taken her in again. But, because +she was no longer as merry as she used to be, she had not suited the +Black Therese at all; and she would gladly have gone away from her if +she had only known where to turn. The woman had tried to make her +acquainted with all sorts of gentlemen, and had scolded her for a silly +goose, because she would not consent.</p> + +<p class="normal">That night the Black Therese's lover had come to take both girls to the +Christmas mass. But in the church a friend of his had joined them, and +they were just on their way to a public-house to get something more to +drink. It had seemed as if heaven had opened to her when she heard +Felix's voice. And now, all of a sudden, she felt quite light at heart. +How had he happened to come along just at the right time, and how was +he getting on, and was he really quite well again?</p> + +<p class="normal">She began to laugh again as she asked these questions, with her old +happy, light-hearted laugh. All her wretchedness seemed of a sudden to +have vanished, and to be forgotten.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Zenz," he said, "you must not go back to this black devil of a woman. +She will bring you to ruin sooner or later; you can no longer have any +doubt of that. But now, what do you intend to do? Have you ever taken +any thought as to what is going to become of you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her laughing face suddenly grew dark again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed I have," she answered, with a thoughtful nod of the head. "I +have made up my mind to look on and see how things go until summer; +then, if I am no better off--I'm not afraid of the water, I will take +another trip on the Starnberger lake, and, when I am just in the +middle, I will close my eyes and spring in. They say it doesn't hurt at +all.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see," she continued, when he did not answer, "I shall never be +happy in this world; very few are, and it is all ordered beforehand. So +why should I look on patiently while my few young years pass miserably +away? There is no one to miss me when I am out of the world. And if it +is all the same to <i>me</i> whether I live or not, what does it matter to +any one else?"</p> + +<p class="normal">As she said these words, she involuntarily let go his arm, and stood +still again for a moment, to recover breath after her quick speech.</p> + +<p class="normal">He seized her hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will you do something for my sake, Zenz?" he asked, tenderly--"a very +great favor? Will you promise me to do what I ask you?--to go with me +wherever I lead you? You know well enough that I mean well by you."</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at him inquiringly. Then she laid her other hand in his, +too. A blush mounted to her cheeks, as if from a sudden glad hope that +was almost like a shock.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do with me whatever you like!" she said, in an almost inaudible voice. +"I have no one in all the world but you. Kill me or make me happy, it +is all the same to me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come then," he answered, taking her arm again. He knew very well what +thought it was that had sprung up within her, and that he must +disappoint her hope. But he left her in her delusion, so that she would +follow wherever he should lead.</p> + +<p class="normal">They walked for a quarter of an hour, both in silence, through the +dark, deserted streets. At length he stood still before a house, in +whose upper story the windows were still lighted.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here!" he said.</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave a start. "Have you moved?" she asked, regarding the house with +a look of surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here lives the man, Zenz, to whom I want to bring you; he will care +for you better than I myself could, even if I were willing to take you +with me to a new world. You know whom I mean, child. You did not think +of him when you said no one would miss you when you were no longer in +the world. Do you remember him now? No," he continued, as she made a +movement to escape from him, "I won't let you go; you know what you +promised me. The old man sitting there up-stairs--if you only knew how +he longs to make up to you for the wrong he did to your poor mother; if +you only knew him, Zenz, as we all do--and now he sits there in his +lonely room this Christmas-night. The lieutenant has told me of all the +things he has brought together, so that he might have some presents +ready for his grandchild in case she should hit upon the happy idea of +presenting him with herself on Christmas-eve. And, Zenz, if you could +only find it in your heart to carry out this thought, even at this late +hour, would you not be better off up there than in the tavern with +those blackguards, where you would be given vile stuff to drink, and +forced to listen to worse talk? And even if this were not so, and you +could not bear to live with him, wouldn't there still be time for that +voyage on the lake of which you spoke?"</p> + +<p class="normal">This last thought seemed at length to turn the scales.</p> + +<p class="normal">She suddenly burst out laughing again. "I was caught nicely that time," +she said; "I positively never thought of such a thing when I promised +you I would do whatever you asked of me. But, then, it was very stupid +of me; I ought to have known-- However, it's quite true that I can try +it for a while; it won't cost me my head; and if it doesn't work--why, +he won't put me under lock and key, so that I can't get away again. +Only you must say to him, in the first place, that I don't particularly +like him. I can't conceal what I really feel."</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix pulled the bell. A sleepy old woman, who acted as servant to +Father Schoepf, opened the door. "Goodnight, Zenz," said Felix, +cordially pressing the girl's hand. "Say for yourself whatever you have +to say to your grandfather. And I thank you for having kept your word; +you won't regret it. Good-night, and remember me to the old gentleman; +and tell him that I heartily congratulate him upon his Christmas joy. +Tomorrow I will call and see how you get on together."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">It was not much earlier when the two lovers, who had likewise separated +themselves from the rest, arrived before Julie's house. They had taken +a roundabout way, for Jansen, who was only too happy to have his +beautiful sweetheart on his arm, and to be alone with her at last, +would hare liked to wander about for hours. The night-air quickened all +his senses, and, in the pale light of the snow and the lamps, the face +at his side appeared to him enchantingly beautiful. But he spoke +little, just as all the evening he had been the quietest of the party. +And she understood him well enough to know that he did not speak to her +simply because he never ceased to think of her. Sometimes he would draw +her closer to him, and touch his lips to her cool, soft cheek, in the +dark shadow of the houses or in the centre of a deserted square. Then +he would speak some tender word to her, only to lapse into silence +again the next moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">When at last they arrived at the gate before her house, she stood still +and drew the door-key from her pocket.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We are really here already!" she said. "What a pity! I could walk for +hours. It seems to me as if time stood still when I am hanging on your +arm. But I must relieve my old Erich, who is sitting up until I come. +Good-night, dearest!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here?" he asked, painfully surprised--"here, in the cold street? It is +warm in your rooms."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And for that very reason," she said, softly, "we should find it so +much the harder to part."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Julie!" he cried, passionately clasping her to his breast, "<i>must</i> we +part? Can you send me away, when we have not been able to say a +confidential word to one another all this evening? If you but knew how +I felt--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She gently withdrew from his embrace. "Dearest," she whispered, "I know +only too well. Do you suppose it costs me no struggle to have more +sense than you, you wild man? To still make myself out a girl without a +hearty while all the while I can feel the poor disobedient thing +beating only too wildly? Oh, my darling, if you and I were only alone +in the world--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who is there besides ourselves who can separate us from one another?" +he cried, hotly.</p> + +<p class="normal">She laid her soft hand entreatingly upon his mouth. There were some +people passing who stopped to listen to his loud voice. "Be quiet, +dearest!" she whispered. "Be good, be gentle, be patient for just a +little while longer; and think, too, of my own feeling. Have you +forgotten that I have determined to be a good mother to our little +Frances? I always want to be able to look her in the eyes, and on our +marriage-day, too, when I wear the bridal-wreath that I have honorably +deserved. The happiness of belonging to you is so great that it may +well be worth a time of probation. And now good-night, until to-morrow, +and don't be angry with me. Some time you will thank me for having +to-day made myself out stronger--than I really am."</p> + +<p class="normal">With these words she threw her arms tightly round his neck, and gave +him a long and loving kiss. Then she hastily escaped, opened the gate, +and vanished down the dark garden-walk that led to the house-door. He +waited to see the light appear in her window; he could not feel +reconciled to parting from her in this way. But she knew that it would +only be the harder for him to tear himself away if he should see a +light in her window. With throbbing pulse and burning cheeks she +entered the dark room, refusing to take the lamp which the old servant +had in readiness. So she undressed herself by the faint light that +penetrated through the blinds, and hastily sought her bed, to lie a +long time sleepless, thinking of all the happiness that was in store +for her.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Nor did Rosenbusch make any great haste to take his lady home. They +were both in a very merry mood, and he especially made so many +brilliant jokes that he kept her laughing continually. It was by sheer +oversight that they suddenly found themselves standing at last before +her house and Angelica expressed her surprise that the way had been so +short. It was so refreshing to be out in the cold winter night, after +all the punch and laughter.</p> + +<p class="normal">A droschky drove slowly past. Rosenbusch proposed that they should take +a drive to the Nymphenburg. But she would not hear of such a thing, but +advised him to go home like a respectable person, and not to seek +companions in some wine-house and spend the night with them in +drinking; he had more in his head already than was good for him. But +when she did not succeed in getting the house-door unlocked, she had to +put up with his remark that her hand did not seem to be a very steady +one either. "A man must guide her steps," he sang from the +"Zauberflöte," as he took the key from her and opened the door with a +smart wrench. "It was very true," she said, "she did not know how to +manage latch-keys as well as certain night-birds. But now, many thanks +and goodnight!"</p> + +<p class="normal">With these words she attempted to step into the house; but he, in his +merry, audacious mood, could not restrain himself from quickly seizing +her round the waist and giving the good girl, who looked positively +pretty with her hood and her red cheeks, a sounding kiss upon the lips. +But this was carrying the joke too far, in her opinion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Herr von Rosebud," she said, in her coldest tone, "you have drunk more +than is good for you, and are not entirely responsible for what you do. +For that reason I can't be so severe upon your forgetfulness of all +propriety as I otherwise should be. I will merely remark to you that my +name is not Nanny, and that I wish you a very good-evening."</p> + +<p class="normal">She made him a formal courtesy, and attempted to slip quickly past him. +But he held her fast by her cloak and said, in a droll, pathetic tone:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You wrong me greatly, Angelica. Truly, I have such a devilish respect +for you, I honor you so boundlessly as the model of all womanly +virtues, that I would rather eat my head than forget what I owe to you. +But will you have the goodness to remember that we have sleighing now? +and although we two have merely slid here on foot, still I thought +myself entitled, as your true knight, to take this liberty. If this was +an error, can you find it in your heart to condemn me for it to the +eternal punishment of your direful wrath?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She could not help laughing at the crushed and penitential mien, which +the cunning rascal knew so well how to assume.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go!" she said, in her old tone again. "On Christmas night the Saviour +came into the world to suffer for all sinners. And, perhaps, you may be +forgiven too."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thank you," he responded, very quietly. "And in token thereof, dear +fellow-Christian, seal your solemn forgiveness, in the sight of this +starry heaven, with a voluntary, sisterly kiss. No, you must not refuse +me this, unless you want me to pass a sleepless night. You are no +Philistine, dearest Angelica."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish I were one," she sighed. But then she kindly and without +further resistance offered him her red lips, and said, once more: +"Good-night, my dear Rosenbusch!" and the house-door closed between +them.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><i>BOOK VI</i>.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">The new year had come, but it brought little that was new.</p> + +<p class="normal">One day, about the middle of January, when a light snow was falling in +large flakes, the carriage of the old countess had been standing for +more than an hour before the hotel in which Irene was stopping with her +uncle. The coachman, buried in his high-shouldered bearskin coat, had +fallen into a doze, and the horses hung their heads and meekly suffered +themselves to be covered with the falling snow. But it seemed as though +the silent fall of the flakes would come to an end sooner than the +storm of German and French phrases with which the lively old lady +overwhelmed the young Fräulein, who sat absently listening to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her uncle had retired into a window-niche, and was looking over an +illustrated hunting-book; now and then he threw in a word, a question +about this or that acquaintance, which immediately gave the old +countess an opportunity to begin a new chapter of her town-gossip.</p> + +<p class="normal">When, in the midst of this, the servant announced the arrival of the +lieutenant, Irene could not suppress a glad "Ah!" This time she found +his riding-boots, stiff with snow, and his shabby old winter overcoat, +in which he was muffled up to the eyes, by no means so objectionable as +usual, but welcomed him as a friend in need, and, smiling gratefully, +gave him her hand, which he pressed tightly between his rough buckskin +gloves.</p> + +<p class="normal">But for all that she was disappointed in her hope, for he silently +threw himself into a chair, stretched out his legs and beat time with +his riding-whip on his high boots, while the old lady, taking up the +lost thread of her discourse again, began to spin on as zealously as +ever.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her conversation dealt for the most part with the festival calendar of +the great world, with receptions, <i>soirées</i>, routs, and the amateur +theatricals that had been given by the French ambassador. Then the +question whether there was a prospect of any court balls, and how many +there would be, was discussed at length, with great vigor, and with +many references to former times, when the good lady was a reigning +belle.</p> + +<p class="normal">All at once it seemed to occur to her that she had the conversation +entirely to herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Mais savez-vous, mon cher Schnetz</i>," she said, turning to him, "<i>que +vous avez une mine à faire peur? Je ne parle pas de votre toilette</i>--in +that respect you have never been very indulgent toward us. But all the +time I am trying to initiate our dear Irene into the programme of her +winter pleasures--for we can never think of letting her travel off into +that land of cholera and brigands, where they are threatening to cut +the throat of our religion and of the holy Father--you sit there like +Hippocrates--<i>le dieu du silence; et on voit bien, que vous vous moquez +intérieurement de tous ces plaisirs innocents.</i> Of course, in regard to +dancing, the gentlemen now-a-days are quite <i>blasé</i>. But although you +yourself can no longer take any pleasure in the joys of the carnival--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are greatly mistaken, my dear countess," interrupted Schnetz, +seriously. "I am so far from being indifferent to the pleasures of +dancing that I actually propose to dance all night long, four days from +to-day, provided I can find a partner who will dare to trust herself +with such a dancing bear."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Four days from to-day? <i>Vous plaisantez, mon ami.</i> Where is there +going to be a ball four days from to-day?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not in the higher spheres, gracious lady, but still a very excellent +and respectable hall; moreover, in masks, which fact would in itself +make it worth attending. The truth is," he said, addressing himself to +Irene, "on Saturday we propose to open the carnival in our 'Paradise,' +about which I have already told you. You undoubtedly remember that +young baron, who took our boat in tow that day on the lake, and who +afterward had the difficulty with that murderous scoundrel? He is going +away to America--no one knows exactly why; and, as we all like him, we +are anxious to give him a formal farewell <i>fête</i>. For in all the five +points of the globe he will never see again such a masquerade as we can +make for him!"</p> + +<p class="normal">A short pause followed these words. Irene had suddenly grown as pale as +death; it seemed to her as if she could not breathe; her uncle laid +aside his hunter's album, and rose, contriving, as he did so, to +secretly step on Schnetz's toe--the latter was apparently occupied in +the most innocent manner, with his heavy silver watch-chain, from which +were suspended a boar's tooth, a few trinkets, and a large seal ring.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Comment?</i>" said the old lady. "He is going off to America? <i>C'est +drôle</i>--and at this time of year--<i>au cœur de l'hiver!</i> And I have +been meaning to ask you, my dear Schnetz, to bring this young man to +see me--he certainly looks as if he might be a magnificent dancer, and +from his birth and education he could not but prefer the balls in +society to any dancing parties that your artist friends might give."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is a question, countess," remarked Schnetz, dryly, as he rubbed +his disfigured ear; "or, rather, knowing the man as I do, it is not a +question at all. My friend's taste is altogether too unprejudiced for +him to consult the peerage to find out whether he may amuse himself or +not, or to judge by a merry dancer's eyes whether she is worth having +for a partner. He has had sufficient experience of what you are pleased +to call society to enable him to turn his back upon it without regret. +He now seeks society where he can find it; and, if it belongs to the +set you consider disreputable, it is good enough for him on carnival +eve, if for no other reason than because the so-called 'good society' +is only called so because, as a well-known Weimar councilor once +remarked, 'it never yet afforded material for even the smallest +poem.'"</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Toujours le même frondeur!</i>" laughed the old lady. "<i>Mais on doit +pourtant observer les convenances</i>; I mean, even if your friend does +sometimes condescend to enter this <i>Bohème</i>, as you yourself do--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Schnetz immediately cleared his throat loudly. "As to the +condescension," he said, with emphasis, "there can be so little talk of +that in the present case, that I can assure you that if the most +accomplished courtiers in your exclusive society should present +themselves for admission to this Paradise, they would be blackballed, +with but very few exceptions. This will give you an idea of what the +gentleman are like. As for our female guests--though they might not +always find favor in the eyes of delicate ladies--I will do them the +justice to say that they always behave themselves with propriety while +they are with us, and that they have a very good idea of what is +expected of them on such occasions. If this were not the case, do you +think I would dare to invite our honored Fräulein to this masked ball? +to do which, by the way, was the occasion of my present visit."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Irene? Well, I must confess, Schnetz--<i>cést l'idée la plus +extravagante que vous ayez jamais eue. Irene, qu'en dites-vous, ma +chère enfant? Mais c'est un idée</i>--</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is our rule," said Schnetz, turning to Irene, without paying the +slightest heed to this interruption, "to allow each member to bring a +lady with him, no matter whether she is known to the others or not. Her +cavalier is held responsible by the society for her behaving herself +with propriety. And up to the present time all have shown so much tact +in their choice, that nothing like a scandal has ever occurred. Of +course these good children are of all degrees of education and origin, +respectable burghers' daughters, actresses belonging to the smaller +theatres, and very likely you will find a little seamstress or milliner +among them, for whose unswerving principles I should hardly like to +answer. But all these inequalities disappear in the masquerade, and one +sees nothing but round, pretty faces, which their artist friends try to +set off as charmingly as possible. To have taken part in such a thing, +my dear Fräulein, will be an experience for you which you will not +forget as quickly as you do the artificial routs of our aristocratic +friends, that pass without mirth or comfort, and of which one is the +exact counterpart of all the rest.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, besides," he continued, as Irene gave no sign either of assent +or dissent, "you needn't stand on any ceremony at all. If you should +not feel at home among us Bohemians, you can regard the matter as you +would a play, whose end we do not stop to see if it bores or depresses +us. I need only add that the young lady to whom Jansen is secretly +engaged is coming, as well as our honest friend Angelica, so that you +will not lack a guard of honor. Now, do help me persuade the Fräulein, +my dear countess. I am well enough acquainted with her uncle, to know +that he will have nothing to say against it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I help you, you godless tempter of youth?" cried the old lady, +wavering between sincere anger and a desire to laugh. "<i>Mais décidément +vous tournez à la folie, mon cher Schnetz!</i> Have you forgotten that I +fill the place of a spiritual mother, <i>pour ainsi dire</i>, to our Irene? +that I feel myself responsible for all the impressions and experiences +she may encounter in our Munich? And you ask me to persuade her +to enter a society to which women <i>de la plus basse extraction</i>, +shop-girls, grisettes and models belong--a society, in a word, which is +of a thoroughly <i>mauvais genre</i>, no matter how much you bad men may +prefer it to ours?"</p> + +<p class="normal">While she was pouring forth this hasty speech, a singular play of +anger, pity, and withering scorn came and went upon Schnetz's face. At +length the old lady having come to an end, and making as though she +would draw Irene to her arms, as if she were a little chicken who +sought protection from the claws of a hawk, the lieutenant slowly rose, +planted himself before the sofa, folded his arms over his chest and +said, bringing out each word with a certain dry satisfaction:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are too old, my good countess, and moreover too thoroughly +petrified by the atmosphere of courts, for me to venture to hope that +you will change, in any way, your ideas about men and things. But I +must respectfully request you not to make use of the expression +<i>mauvais genre</i> in connection with any society to which I permit myself +the honor of inviting Fräulein Irene. It is opposed to my principles to +introduce young ladies whom I esteem into any circle where they could +be insulted by anything immoral or vulgar. Upon this point, I hold even +more exclusive views than you, in spite of your duties as spiritual +mother. In the days when I was still a frequenter of 'society,' which +is undoubtedly neither better nor worse here than it is in other +capitals, I often overheard ballroom-talk which would not have been +excused in our Paradise, even by the license allowed to those who wear +masks--though we can scarcely be called prudish. It is true the +conversation was veiled in smooth French and still smoother double +meanings, which undoubtedly accounts for its being considered <i>bon +genre</i>. So much for mere <i>words</i>. And when we come to consider the +deeds of this <i>haute extraction</i> from a moral point of view--why, you +yourself have kept a record long enough to know that one may be very +well versed in the manners of a court, and may yet, as far as looseness +of principles is concerned, rival many a grisette, or, for that matter, +many a model; and that blue blood is quite as apt to run away with the +weaker sex as red. Those gentlemen, especially--to whom you would not +hesitate to trust Fräulein Irene for an entire cotillion--may I be +allowed to remind you of certain stories, in connection with some of +your own partners? About Baron X., for instance, who--" and he bent +down over the old lady, and whispered for some time in her ear, +notwithstanding the comical struggles she made to protect herself from +the auricular confession thus forced upon her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Mais vous êtes affreux</i>," she cried out at length and struck at him +with her handkerchief, very much in the same way that one tries to rid +one's self of a swarm of importunate gnats.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I beg a thousand pardons," growled Schnetz, again addressing himself +to Irene. "<i>C'est contre la bienséance, de chuchoter en société</i>--you +see I haven't quite forgotten my catechism of good-breeding even yet, +though I do sometimes sin against it. I merely wished to convince the +countess that the '<i>Bohème</i>' from which I have chosen my friends, does +indeed consist of men, and not of angels, but that it would be +impossible for me to introduce the Fräulein to any one there, from whom +the history of morals and civilization in this city could learn as much +as it could from certain members of the best circles."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old countess hastily rose. Her face had grown very red, her +nostrils quivered. She gave a slight cough, and then said, turning with +a motherly smile to Irene, who was helping her on with her furs.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Ce cher Schnetz, il a toujours le petit mot pour rire.</i> Well, <i>ma +mignonne, faites ce que vous voudrez. Je m'en lave les mains. Adieu, +Baron! À tantôt! Adieu, Schnetz</i>, you renegade, you horrid wretch! I +see it is true what the world says of you, and what I have always +disputed, that you have the most malicious tongue in the whole city."</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave him as she passed a little tap, intended to be light and +coquettish, but really delivered so sharply that the recipient could +easily see how glad the same hand would have been to give him a more +forcible lesson--if it had only been good <i>ton</i>.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">She had scarcely left the room, accompanied by Irene, when the baron +stepped up to Schnetz.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I must confess," he cried, "you are not a cheerful man to pick +bones with! For Heaven's sake, tell me, <i>mon vieux</i>, what devil +possesses you to talk in this reckless way to that old court mummy?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Schnetz looked him coolly in the face, and once more began to rub his +mutilated ear.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you really think she understood me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Understood you? <i>Que diable!</i> You certainly left nothing to be desired +on the score of plainness. I must say though, my good friend, now that +we are quite alone again, that, excellent as I find your plan of +bringing the two offended lovers together under cover of the freedom of +a masquerade, I really can't approve of the way in which you have gone +to work. For no matter how much my niece may be shaken in her whim by +the prospect of America, or how thankful she may be at heart for every +chance that is given her to capture her roving bird again--still, just +think how difficult you have made the matter for her, by bringing up +this question of the ball before that old woman! I ought to have been +kept out of the game too. Now, if she asks me on my conscience as uncle +and guardian----."</p> + +<p class="normal">"On your conscience? On <i>which</i>, if I may ask? On your conscience as a +baron or as a man?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"H'm! I should imagine that two old tent companions, such as we are, +would agree pretty well as to the matter itself. But you must admit +that much, which might seem quite innocent to me as a bachelor, could +hardly meet my approval as a guardian, in my official capacity, so to +speak. And more than this, it seems to me that there really are two +different moral standpoints for men and women, and what is right for +the one is not always proper for the other."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There you hit it exactly!" cried Schnetz, flying into a rage, and +throwing his whip down on the table. "That is why we never come across +a single sprig of fresh verdure in our social relations! that is why we +must eternally carry about lies, narrow-hearted makeshifts, and mean +reservations, all because we adopt a double standard of weights and +measures, and regard a damned shrug of the shoulders as an excellent +preventive for all the cancers of society! Neither of the two sexes, +when they are together, dares express itself openly, neither says all +that it thinks, each thinks to fool the other with its tricks and +quibbles, while both know very well what they are about, and ought by +good rights to laugh in each other's faces over these miserable and +perfectly fruitless sham fights. And because this whole farce is so +cursedly insipid, and this high tone of high society makes the women +gape as well as the men, therefore both sides struggle all the more +eagerly to indemnify themselves for the boredom they have suffered, +each in his own way, in clubs or worse places, or under four eyes, +where one throws aside all masks and strait-lacing. Honest old Sir John +was quite right--'A plague of all cowards, say I'--And this modern +world of ours will never grow healthy again until the two sexes become +tired of this childish mummery and meet each other half-way in an +honest endeavor to give truth a trial, without prudery and without +coarseness!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He raved on in this fashion for some time longer, without giving the +baron a chance to get in a syllable. Not until his breath had given +out, and he had seized upon his hat, did the other venture to offer a +meek reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All very good and fine, my dear friend, all admitted in theory. But +<i>in praxi</i>--since the world has not yet become entirely sensible--won't +it be necessary to respect the prejudices of a stupid majority for a +while longer? Can our young lady--now that this old chatterer knows +about it--go, without any further consideration, to your paradisaical +festival, where she is sure to meet dubious daughters of Eve? where it +is possible that the girl who was running after our Felix, the little, +red-haired waiter-girl, may, God knows in what costume, stir up another +scene of murder and manslaughter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Schnetz had remained standing with his hand on the door. As the baron +said these words he let it go again, and stared at the excited speaker +for a while; then he laughed bitterly, and stepped back into the room +once more.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This waiter-girl?" said he, laying his hand on the baron's shoulder. +"Well, of all the games the devil ever played! Old friend, do you know +who this waiter-girl is, who nursed this youngster Felix so faithfully, +while others looked on from a distance? This waiter-girl, this child of +the people, who would not be fitting company for a young baroness? +Well, then, she is your own daughter, baron, and first cousin of your +high-born niece!"--</p> + +<p class="normal">The baron stepped back a step or two. "<i>Trève de plaisanteries, mon +cher!</i>" he stammered, trying to laugh. "What sort of a romance is this +you are trying to palm off on me! I--I am--ha, ha, ha! A delightful +farce!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I congratulate you and your good child upon the cheerful mood in which +this unhoped-for discovery finds you," remarked Schnetz, dryly. "To be +sure, the affair is by no means so tragic as it would have been, were +the mother still living. This poor deserted"--here he stepped close up +to the baron, who stood as if petrified, and pronounced her name--"this +sacrifice to our double code of morals has been dead for a year; nor +has the child any suspicion that her dear papa is leading a jolly +bachelor's life in the same city with her."</p> + +<p class="normal">The baron sank upon the sofa; his arms hung at his sides; the only sign +of life that he gave was in his little, restless eyes, that wandered +about anxiously and unsteadily, without seeming to rest on anything. In +the mean while Schnetz strode up and down with noiseless tread, +apparently waiting to see whether his friend, who had received so +severe a shock, stood in any need of his help or his advice. Ten +minutes passed, and neither of them had uttered a word more.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will permit me to light a cigarette," growled Schnetz at length, +between his teeth; "the lady of the house seems to have no intention of +showing herself again--"</p> + +<p class="normal">At this moment the door of the neighboring room opened, and Irene +entered, paler than before, and with such an agitated, sad expression +upon her young face, that Schnetz gazed upon her with a feeling of +remorse.</p> + +<p class="normal">No sooner had the door begun to creak than her uncle sprang up, hastily +pressed his friend's hand, and whispered to him that he must speak with +him about this matter at all hazards; then he rushed out without a +glance at his ward.</p> + +<p class="normal">The extraordinary haste with which he retreated did not seem to strike +Irene as at all strange. She advanced quickly to the window at which +Schnetz was standing, and said:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Were you really in earnest about your invitation to the masquerade?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He assured her that it would afford him the greatest pleasure to +accompany her; all the more because, after what had been said on the +subject, he should consider it not only as a proof of her confidence in +him, but even as a token of true friendship and esteem, if she would +not refuse to accept his invitation.</p> + +<p class="normal">She went on to ask whether she would be allowed to come in a plain +domino and mask--talking all the time with a half-absent expression.</p> + +<p class="normal">He replied that only masks in costume would be admitted. As she +considered four days to be too short a time for getting ready a +complete costume, he proposed to her that, since she expressed herself +as willing to be admitted to Bohemia, she should come as a gypsy. He +offered to provide her, through his artist friends, with beautiful and +genuine materials. It would be very easy for her to get plenty of +bright coral and pearl ornaments and strings of coins with which to +ornament her hair; and he would take her to some stores where such +things could be bought. This costume, he concluded, would have the +double advantage of being easily gotten up with a few feathers and +scraps, and of permitting the wearer--since masks for the face were +prohibited--to dye her skin, to blacken her eyebrows, and to make +herself as unlike herself as possible. "I, myself, always appear as a +Spaniard, as the Knight of the Rueful Countenance, or as Duke Alba. If +I could have a Gitana upon my arm, I should be quite in character, and +should create a sensation for the first time; for they are not used to +seeing me appear with a beautiful partner."</p> + +<p class="normal">As he said this he kissed the young lady's hand, quite in the courtly +Spanish manner, and made as though he would take leave. But she still +held him tightly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will--that girl come, too?" she said, hesitatingly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What girl, Fräulein?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked steadily before her. "I heard all!" she said, with a slight +tremor in her voice. "The walls in this hotel are so thin that one +cannot help overhearing, in spite of one's self, all that is being said +in the next room. Oh, tell me candidly; is it really true?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Unquestionably. My dear young lady, if you were a little better +acquainted with the society which surrounds you, you would find this +case by no means an extraordinary one. Besides, the circumstances are +favorable enough this time. Her own grandfather has already taken his +long-lost granddaughter in charge; so jealously, indeed, that he would +not give her up to her father, even if the latter wished it; and the +girl herself is good and respectable. She is--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know her," interrupted Irene, blushing. "And yet--it would agitate +me greatly if I should chance to meet her at the ball. There are all +sorts of--I will tell you some other time, if you feel interested."</p> + +<p class="normal">She suddenly broke off, and he saw that she was struggling with her +tears.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may make your mind easy, my dear Fräulein," said he, taking up his +hat and whip. "The poor child will not be present. She is in such a +strange mood since she went to live with her grandfather, and so +carefully avoids meeting any one who knew her under former +circumstances, that all the power in the world could not induce her to +visit our Paradise. But seriously, now--<i>á Dios</i>, as we Spaniards say. +Be of good courage; I believe everything will turn out better than we +dream of now."</p> + +<p class="normal">He gave the hand of the speechless girl a hearty pressure, and left her +alone with her aching heart, which found that it could do nothing wiser +than relieve itself by a flood of tears.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">It so happened that, in another room of the same house, and at almost +exactly the same hour, the pleasures of the masquerade in Paradise +formed the subject of conversation.</p> + +<p class="normal">For some weeks past Rosenbusch had intended to make inquiries +concerning the health of his Russian patroness, who, as he knew, was +confined to her room by a slight injury to her foot. He felt it +incumbent on him to show himself a young man who respected the laws of +politeness and society, although he was a disciple of the liberal arts.</p> + +<p class="normal">He found the countess in her bedroom, which smelled of Russian leather +and cigarettes. A samovar and an empty champagne bottle stood on the +table by the bed, and all kinds of note-books, portfolios, French +books, and photographs lay about upon the chairs. Nelida reclined upon +the bed, robed in a long silk dressing-gown, with a black point-lace +veil thrown nun-fashion over her dark hair. She looked paler than in +the summer, and, as she extended her white hand to the painter with a +gracious smile, he was forced to admit to himself that she perfectly +understood the art of making as much capital as possible out of her +suffering condition, and of appearing still more interesting in her +enforced quiet than in her usual activity.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was not alone. The retired singer, who appeared to be regularly +installed as her companion, and who was at the moment engaged in the +back part of the room in poking the fire in the grate, had been sitting +in the chair which was now offered to Rosenbusch.</p> + +<p class="normal">Opposite the bed, in a low arm-chair, sat a younger lady, whom +Rosenbusch had not seen before, and who immediately attracted his +artistic eye. Was she a married woman or a girl? The countess did not +mention her name. But, although the soft fullness of her figure seemed +rather to indicate the mature woman, the features of the charming face +and the glance of the dark-blue eyes had a soft and dreamy expression +that was altogether maidenly. Then, too, she looked very girlish when, +chancing to look up suddenly from the embroidery on which she was +engaged, she gazed with innocent wonder straight into the face of the +speaker, then opened her lips in a laugh which displayed two rows of +the most beautiful little teeth, and the next instant bent down her +head again as if in confusion, until her thick brown hair fell low over +her forehead.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rosenbusch, who was smitten at once, would very gladly have drawn a +little nearer to this enchanting stranger. But the countess took +complete possession of him, making him give her a circumstantial +account of his doings and actions, and expressing an unusual interest +in the "Battle of Lützen," which was now finished. As she was a perfect +mistress of the art of making every one believe that his particular +plans and aims were of more importance to her than anything else, +Rosenbusch did not remark, in the joy of his heart, that, in spite of +her interest in him, she yawned several times, but went on talking +about anything that came into his head--about his labors, his ideas of +art, his friends, and finally about the masked ball in Paradise. He +related, among other things, that Jansen would appear in a genuine +Venetian costume, and his betrothed in a corresponding one, which was +to be exactly copied from a portrait by Paris Bordone, in red velvet +with a little gold embroidery, and which would go marvelously well with +her pale complexion and the dull-gold color of her hair.</p> + +<p class="normal">While he was giving this description the beautiful stranger let her +embroidery fall in her lap, and fixed her eyes upon the speaker with +the curious expression of a child listening to a fairy tale.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Such a costume would be exceedingly becoming to you also, madame," +stammered the painter, who now for the first time addressed a direct +remark to the unknown person.</p> + +<p class="normal">She laughed absently, sighed, but said nothing.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nelida exchanged a quick glance with her, and then asked, as if to give +the conversation another turn, what costume Rosenbusch had chosen for +himself. The truth was, he candidly replied, his means did not permit +him to make any very great display; he should put himself into a +Capuchin's cowl, which would go exceedingly well with his beard, and, +since he was always expected on such occasions to deliver some poetical +effusion, he hoped this time to get out of the affair with a regular +Capuchin sermon.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No doubt you will compose a very talented and witty one," said the +countess. "But wouldn't this costume be exceedingly warm and +uncomfortable if worn long; and will it be easy for you to find a dress +for your partner that will match yours?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear countess," sighed Rosenbusch, "I am unfortunately in a +position to bear the vow of celibacy much more easily than most of the +brothers of my order. The only partner in whom I could take any +interest--But I won't bore the ladies with my private affairs."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, no, don't say that, my dear Herr Rosenbusch. Confess everything +boldly. You will find the most sympathetic appreciation here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, then, I will tell you. I had engaged a young girl for this ball, +who, I am convinced, would unquestionably have borne off the prize from +all but the beautiful Julie. But her parents--bigoted, narrow-minded +shopkeepers--cannot be persuaded to allow the poor thing this innocent +pleasure. So you will readily understand, ladies, that I would rather +throw myself into the arms of celibacy than take up with the first one +who comes along."</p> + +<p class="normal">He grew red, and wiped his forehead with his gloved right hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nelida again exchanged a look with the stranger. The singer, too, now +that she felt relieved from the fear of being recognized by Rosenbusch, +had stepped up to the foot of the bed, and seemed to follow the +conversation with especial interest.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps," said the countess, smiling--"perhaps I may be able to +provide you with a substitute, who will in some degree make good your +loss. A moment before you came in we were saying how cruel it was of +Fate to keep me here in my room at the very time of the carnival! It is +true my dancing days are past. But my dear friend here, Madame--Madame +von St.-Aubain, a good German, by-the-way, in spite of her name-- Only +think, my principal object in inviting her to see me at this time was +in order that I might show her our Munich carnival, and now she is +forced to sit here at the side of my bed and practise the Christian +virtues of patience and charity! To be sure, if she could only find a +knight to whom I dared trust her with a good conscience--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"O countess!" interrupted Rosenbusch, springing up enthusiastically, +"are you really in earnest? Madame would not scorn to--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are very good, sir," lisped the stranger, in a soft, pleasing +voice, which completed the conquest of our friend's heart. "It is true +that it is my greatest wish to catch a stolen glimpse of the life that +goes on in this artists' world, about whose festivals I have heard so +much. But I am too timid to venture into a perfectly strange circle, +even under the most chivalrous protection, when, as you say, masks for +the face are prohibited."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I understand you perfectly, madame!" cried Rosenbusch, +enthusiastically. "It is the custom to attribute such wild things to us +artists that a lady belonging to high society might well be terrified +by them. But you shall see yourself that we are better than our +reputation. Allow me to make a proposal. I will provide you with a +monk's dress similar to my own. In order to remain unrecognized you +have only to pull the cowl over your head; and if, in addition to this, +you should fasten on some white eyebrows and a beard of the same color, +you could observe all that was going on as securely as if you were +behind a curtain or in a dark theatre-box, without anyone having a +suspicion how much grace and beauty--excuse these bold compliments--is +hidden behind this plain disguise. The only possible suspicion that +could arise would be that I led on my arm that young girl--that +obedient daughter of cruel parents, who had secretly managed to escape +from her cage."</p> + +<p class="normal">The stranger stood up, approached the bed, and, bending over the +countess, exchanged a few low words with her. In motion she appeared +even more attractive than in repose. Rosenbusch, who was completely +carried away, could not take his eye from this beautiful yet delicate +figure, and awaited with beating heart the result of the secret +consultation.</p> + +<p class="normal">At last she turned to him again, fixed her soft eyes on his face, as if +she wanted to convince herself once more that she might put confidence +in him, and then said:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will really venture to do it, sir, but only under two conditions: +that you will not betray to any of your friends, even by a syllable, +that the mask at your side is a stranger, and not the person for whom +they will all take her; and that, further, you will take me out of the +company and see me to my carriage as soon as I ask you to. You need not +fear," she continued, slyly smiling, "that I will trouble you long. But +I really can't resist the desire to see so many celebrated artists +together, to admire their costumes and the beautiful women they will +bring with them. The best way will be for you to go without me, and +when the festivities are well under way--say about eleven o'clock--I +will be in the carriage at the garden-gate, where you will be so good +as to meet me. Do you agree to this, and will you give me your word +that you will strictly adhere to these conditions?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Rosenbusch, before whose fancy very different visions of splendor were +floating, and who was secretly convinced that he would succeed in +persuading the beautiful stranger to lay aside her disguise and shine +with him in Paradise the moment the festive spirit of the ball seized +upon her, very wisely refrained from making any objections to this +plan, and solemnly promised everything that was asked of him. He agreed +to bring the costume and all the other requisites to the hotel on the +day before the festival, for the countess insisted upon dressing her +friend in the monk's cowl with her own hands; and then he took leave in +no slight state of excitement over his unexpected good fortune.</p> + +<p class="normal">On the stairs he suddenly recollected Stephanopulos, and his relation +to the Russian lady. For a moment it struck him as rather strange that +the countess, since she seemed so anxious to introduce her friend to +Paradise, had not made use of this cavalier, inasmuch as she personally +could not avail herself of his escort.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps," thought he, complacently stroking his beard, "she is jealous +in regard to this young sinner and Don Juan, and doesn't care about +trusting this charming woman to his charge. It is possible also that +the lady herself may have expressed an aversion for this Greek +adventurer. At all events, I seem to be more agreeable to her. A +confoundedly charming little woman! I wonder where her husband keeps +himself? or possibly she is a widow. If that were the case--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He did not finish the sentence, even in his thoughts, for some one came +down the steps behind him, and he immediately recognized the old baron +whom he had seen out at Rossel's villa. But what had happened to the +merry old gentleman that made him answer the artist's greeting so +mechanically, and pass him, as he stood waiting on the stairs, with a +wild look, as if he had been an utter stranger?</p> + +<p class="normal">Rosenbusch followed him, shaking his head. "What devilish short +memories these aristocrats have!" he growled. "If this Madame von +St.-Aubain is made of the same stuff, I confess I should have a jollier +time with Nanny. However, it can't be helped; that is one of the +disadvantages of moving in the highest circles. In Rome one must do as +the Romans do."</p> + +<p class="normal">He threw his cloak in picturesque folds about his historical velvet +jacket, and stepped forth into the snow with the joyful mien of a +conqueror. His only sorrow was that he couldn't go at once to Angelica +and tell her what a brilliant conquest he had made.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Among all the friends, Felix was the only one who looked forward to the +ball not only without impatience, but even with a secret aversion. He +was in no mood for masquerading; and, if he had not been afraid of +giving offense to the good companions who were desirous of paying him +this last honor, he would have been up and away long before this. He +gave out that it was his fixed intention to leave on the day after the +ball, and answered all objection in regard to the season, which made a +sea-voyage impossible, by saying that he had important business matters +to look after in his native place, the sale of his estates, and the +making out of certain papers that it would be necessary for him to take +with him across the ocean.</p> + +<p class="normal">Jansen alone knew the real reason of his hasty flight. Daily +intercourse with his old friend, and the confidential understanding +that had once more sprung up between them, was all that lightened for +Felix the painful burden of these last days. It is true Jansen had +never been able to bring himself to initiate Felix into the history of +his unhappy marriage as thoroughly as he had Julie. That he had once +thrown himself away on an unworthy woman, and that he was now doing all +in his power to effect a dissolution of the hated bond, but without +success, since he had no legal proofs of her guilt, and she herself +obstinately refused to give the child up to him--all this they had +discussed one night over a bottle of wine, and had finally consoled +themselves with the thought that the land across the ocean might +eventually prove a place of refuge for Jansen also. Felix laughingly +suggested that they should undertake a mission, and preach the gospel +of high art to the redskins; and they had discussed the prospect of +winning over some American Crœsus, and, by some colossal work, +suddenly attracting the eyes of the whole world upon them.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then they might found an art society in the backwoods, on a somewhat +different scale from that to which people were accustomed in Germany, +and each member should receive as an initiation present a cast of the +group of Adam and Eve.</p> + +<p class="normal">So they went on building castles in the air in the midst of the dark +clouds that overhung their sky; and even Julie joined gladly in this +cheerful tone, though her own heart was very heavy.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, as the day of parting drew nearer and nearer, Felix's mood became +steadily more depressed and wretched. Schnetz was almost the only one +of his friends whom he cared to see; and he expended all his eloquence +in trying to persuade him to follow his example and shake the dust of +the Old World from his feet. Why should he lie here and grow rusty? why +should he, in his best years, voluntarily withdraw himself from life +and play the valetudinarian before his time? On the other side of the +water, abilities like his would not be allowed to lie idle, his good +wife would renew her youth again, and he might safely trust to the +Yankees to provide him with plenty of material for the exercise of his +Thersites-like black art during his leisure moments. To all this +Schnetz replied by silently and thoughtfully rubbing his ear, without, +however, giving any reason to believe that he absolutely declined the +proposal. Indeed, he seemed to be bent upon keeping the lonely and +dejected youngster in as good spirits as possible, and was especially +active in trying to laugh away Felix's distaste for the ball, as an +attack of sentimentality that a future American ought not to yield to. +If it was a bother for him to look after a costume, he would be very +glad to lend him a helping hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix thanked him for his good-will. He had, among the various relics +of his travels, the complete suit of a Spanish majo, which he had +brought with him from Mexico. The velvet jacket bordered with silver, +the knee-breeches and the gay silk stockings, the red net for the hair, +and whatever else belonged to the complete equipment of a Spanish +dandy, became him excellently; and though in his present mood he had no +thoughts of attempting any conquests, he was, nevertheless, glad that +he would be able to show himself to his artist friends in a genuine +national costume, and not in any patched-up frippery.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, when the night of the ball arrived, it was long before he could +make up his mind to put on this gay dress. He had packed his luggage, +paid his landlady, and made all his preparations for departure. When at +last he stood alone before his glass in his empty room, surrounded only +by his trunks, and proceeded to fasten the net in his hair, he could +not help bursting out into a loud laugh, in spite of his melancholy +mood, at the absurdity of his dancing a fandango on the eve of +launching himself into the uncertain future of a life beyond the sea. +The sound of his voice roused old Homo, who never left him now, from +his usual half-slumberous state. The sober animal started, for a +moment, with an almost disapproving air at the internal and external +transformation that had come over Felix; then he rose slowly from his +place near the stove, walked up to his master, and rubbed his broad +nose against his hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So even you are amazed, old boy," cried Felix, caressing his faithful +companion, "at my merry spirits? Come, you shall experience a still +greater miracle. I will take you with me; you are the only one of your +race on whom the gates of Paradise are not shut."</p> + +<p class="normal">He took up a little black wood guitar, which properly belonged to his +costume, and fastened it with red ribbons on the shaggy back of the +dog, who patiently submitted to the process. Then he called his +landlady, cautioned her not to let him sleep too late the next morning, +as he must take the first train, ordered a carriage, and rolled away, +through the mild winter's night, to the English Garden, over the soft +snow that had already begun to thaw in the warm wind.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had to pass by Irene's hotel, and he looked up at her dark windows, +and felt surprised that this parting look brought no tears to his eyes. +Indeed he felt as if he were one who had bidden farewell to life; and +only he who lives can sympathize. The dog slept patiently at his feet. +When the carriage jolted over a stone, the strings of the guitar +sounded, and the sleeping animal growled wonderingly in his dreams.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was on the stroke of nine when the carriage drew up before the back +entrance to the little garden of Paradise. The dance was to begin at +seven, but it mattered little to Felix how much of it he missed. Not +until he found himself in the vestibule was he able, by a powerful +exertion, to shake off the depression of his spirits and steel himself +to appear cheerful. He was aided in this resolve by the sound of the +music that issued from the dancing-hall, and more especially by the +aspect of Fridolin, the janitor, who, arrayed in the most ridiculous of +costumes, played the part of warder, and permitted no one to enter who +could not prove to his satisfaction that he was one of the invited +guests. He was posted here in the character of the angel with the +flaming sword, in a white, ruffled robe--with a golden girdle, two +immense wings suspended from his back, a rose behind each ear, and a +flaming wooden sword covered with gold-leaf in his hand. In this +costume he sat behind a little table, on which stood an earthenware +beer-mug, and greeted the late guest with a sly and hearty nod of his +elegantly-dressed head, at the same time showing his long white teeth +and bestowing a self-satisfied look upon his costume. Felix stood at +his side convulsed with laughter and full of admiration at the success +of the disguise.</p> + +<p class="normal">Herr Rosenbusch had provided him with this beautiful dress, remarked +the old fellow, evidently much flattered at the notice taken of him. +But how handsomely the Herr Baron was dressed, and how glad he was that +he had brought Homo with him! It was right that such an animal should +know what carnival-time was like. This time it was unusually merry +inside there. Each member had been allowed to invite a friend, and he +in his turn to bring a lady; there were fifty or sixty present, to put +it at the lowest figure. But he enjoyed himself best outside here, for +the beer kept cooler, and he could take a look in from time to time, +especially now when it was probable no one else would come, except a +lady whom Herr Rosenbusch was still expecting.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix completed the paradisiacal mood of the good old man by forcing a +very considerable present into his hand as a parting gift, for he was +not going to visit the studio again. Then he escaped as quickly as +possible from his thanks, and entered the large central hall of +"Paradise," where the dancing was going on, the regular meeting-room +having been transformed on this occasion into a supper-room.</p> + +<p class="normal">It took him some time before he could separate the different groups and +distinguish his friends, in the general whirl and confusion. Looking +over the heads of the dancers, he saw half a dozen strange creatures +mounted on a raised platform--gigantic tree-toads, a brown salamander, +and a bat, who, playing upon two or three fiddles, a clarionet, a horn, +and a bass-viol, composed the orchestra. Some of these amphibious +beings, overpowered by the heat, had taken off their heads and fastened +them on their backs, thus presenting a still more fantastic appearance +by the contrast between their bearded, flushed, and very prosaic human +faces and their reptile skins. This feature of the ball was also the +work of the battle-painter, who, having little trouble in arranging his +own costume, had been indefatigable in helping the others by deed and +word. He now approached Felix, skillfully winding his way through the +dancing couples, drew forth a snuff-box and a blue-checked handkerchief +from his brown cowl, and murmured several Latin sentences of welcome +and blessing; and not until he had played his <i>rôle</i> for some time +longer did he gravely shake hands with his laughing friend, and +reproach him for coming too late.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix had no time to excuse himself, for a tall Englishman, who +was just dancing by with a blonde-haired Suabian girl, stopped +suddenly, led his partner out of the dance, and advanced upon our +friend--Elfinger, with Angelica. Then followed another welcome, another +examination of the costumes, and much laughter and admiration. +Angelica, in her pretty national costume, and standing by the side of +the ridiculous caricature that Elfinger carried out with unswerving +dignity, appeared to very great advantage, especially now when the +excitement of dancing caused her eyes to sparkle and her cheeks to +glow. Rosenbusch told them how much trouble he had had in persuading +her to wear this dress, for she had obstinately persisted in coming as +a Dachau peasant-girl, and making a scarecrow of her figure. She was +guilty, unfortunately, of the weakness of not wishing to be conceited, +which all women ought to be, according to the wise decree of +Providence; and to stand aloof in this way from an hereditary sin was +really one of the worst sorts of coquetry, and should be consigned to +eternal punishment by holy men like himself.</p> + +<p class="normal">To this the good soul replied in a tone of mock anger, defended herself +bravely against his ecclesiastical arrogance, and refused to listen to +the sermons of any other sect but her own. She gave Felix a most hearty +welcome, but with a certain sly smile, as if she knew of some +particular masquerade joke that was in preparation for him; and then +took him by the hand and led him to Jansen and Julie, who were the +handsomest couple at the ball--"so far, at all events," she added, with +the same mysterious expression as before.</p> + +<p class="normal">In order to reach the two, they were obliged to work their way through +the whole length of the hall, and were often delayed by the whirl of +the dancers. So Felix had plenty of time to examine the company. He +recognized but few of them in their costumes. A stout Arab, with a dark +face and wearing a white burnoose, approached him, bowed low with his +hands on his breast, and then withdrew after this dumb greeting to take +possession of a chair at the lower end of the hall. It was only when he +saw the way in which he comfortably settled himself in it that Felix +recognized him. But just as he was on the point of going after Rossel, +a young Greek, gorgeously dressed in full armor, attracted his +attention. He and his partner, a beautiful girl, were dancing madly in +and out among the waltzing couples, yet without creating the slightest +confusion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stephanopulos!" whispered Felix. "Do you know his partner?" Angelica +shrugged her shoulders, and apparently preferred to leave the question +unanswered. There was no lack of pretty girls, and, although they +belonged to the most different social ranks, they all bore themselves +with the like respectability, and, with all their freedom, with natural +good taste. The young architect stepped up to say good-evening to him. +He wore a becoming Flemish costume, and his companion, who was not +exactly pretty, but looked sensible and modest, was dressed as a +mediæval burgher's daughter, with a large coif and ruffles about the +neck. Then the couple danced a graceful provincial dance to the +<i>Ländler</i> that the band was playing, waltzing round and round in the +same spot, or separating in fantastic figures to approach each other +again and take each other by the finger-tips.</p> + +<p class="normal">Kohle also danced, but entirely by himself, in an exceedingly comical +costume, for he represented St. Dionysius, who was accustomed to carry +his decapitated head under his arm. For this purpose he had rigged up +an immense cabbage-head, had painted it and hung it round with long +horse-hairs, while his own head was ingeniously encircled by a huge +aureole, from which there hung a golden fringe covering his face, so +that, from a distance, this yellow, dazzling disk seemed to rest +immediately on the neck. This figure, half ghastly, half droll, slowly +swung itself about among the whirling couples, to the sound of the +music, occasionally going through with a little extemporaneous +buffoonery, especially with the Capuchin, who evinced a deep respect +for the holy man, which he expressed by incessantly offering him his +snuffbox, and by mating frantic efforts to kiss the head of the martyr.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where is Schnetz?" asked Felix. Angelica appeared not to have heard +the question; for just at this moment they arrived at the side of the +hall where the windows were, and where several spectators were sitting, +among them Jansen and his betrothed. "Isn't she adorable?" whispered +Angelica, as she led her companion close up to the couple, who welcomed +him with a joyful exclamation. Indeed, it would have been impossible to +see anything more magnificent than this beautiful blonde girl, dressed +in the rich folds of a dark-red velvet dress, with puffed and slashed +sleeves, her beautiful neck bare, and wearing no other ornament than a +delicate Venetian chain; her blonde hair, slightly curled, flowing +freely over her shoulders, and set off by a few dark flowers. It seemed +to Felix, also, that he had never seen her in her real beauty before +to-day, and the sweetness of her expression completed the charm. Jansen +stood at her side in his dark suit, not less full of dignity and +character, but looking only like a courtier standing by the side of his +princess. They had neither of them danced, for he did not care for it, +and she did not like to fly through the hall with any one else. They at +once offered him a seat by their side, for Elfinger had once more taken +possession of his Suabian maid, and began a pleasant conversation, in +the course of which he could not help noticing that Julie now and then +threw in some playful allusion and smiled slyly, while they were +talking about the most ordinary things, just as Angelica had done +before. He dropped a word or two about his approaching departure, which +they did not seem to hear at all.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you seen the lieutenant yet?" asked Julie, suddenly. "You ought +to look him up, he has been wandering about the whole room in search of +you. If I remember rightly he just went into the next room, possibly to +console himself with a glass of wine for his ill success in finding +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">She smiled and laid one of her beautiful hands in that of her +betrothed, while with the other she played with her black fan.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix rose. A restless curiosity seized upon him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sha'n't we go into that sanctum, too?" he said. "We might sit down +together at one of the little tables, and have some supper."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps you will find better company," she replied, turning away from +him. "We are a couple of tiresome old lovers, and you are a young +Spanish lion who has not yet found his lioness. Go alone; we will +follow quite soon enough."</p> + +<p class="normal">She nodded to him pleasantly, again with a peculiar expression. He left +them, shaking his head, and wound his way through the maze of dancers, +to the real hall of Paradise.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">He was just crossing the threshold when a well-known voice struck his +ear, proceeding from the corner where the little wine cask lay, covered +up by green oleander bushes. "<i>Buenas tardes, Señor Don Felix!</i> You +come rather late, but not too late to prevent you from dancing yourself +tired. I have the honor to introduce you to one of my countrywomen, a +genuine Gitana. Senorita ----."</p> + +<p class="normal">But Felix had long ceased to hear what he said. Before him +stood--Irene.</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked marvelously charming as she stood there, her picturesque +shawls and draperies thrown loosely about her, her hair ornamented with +a heavy string of corals and gold coins, large silver rings in her +ears, and her eyebrows slightly darkened and joined together over her +proud little nose by a delicate line! And how her cheeks glowed at this +sudden meeting with him whom, after all, she had expected, and for +whose sake she had thus adorned herself; how she cast down her +eyes--and breathed hard--and tried to smile, and yet had enough to do +to keep back the tears that were welling up behind her eyelashes!</p> + +<p class="normal">For a minute or two Schnetz stood gazing with delight at this most +charming of all pantomimes. Then he came to the assistance of the +embarrassed couple.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are not altogether unacquainted with each other," said he, in his +driest manner. "Senorita Gitana has to thank this noble Andalusian for +saving her life from the tempestuous waves of the lake of Starnberg. He +will now steer her quite as safely through the dangers of a waltz, +better, most certainly, than your humble servant, whose strut might +possibly strike her as rather too Spanish. So at it, youngster! pluck +up courage and lead the Gitanilla to the dance. After that she will +show you how to read your future from your hand."</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix recovered himself by a violent effort. "Shall we dance?" +stammered he, in a scarcely audible voice, as he stepped up to Irene.</p> + +<p class="normal">She nodded assent, and the glow on her face burned hotter, but she +spoke not a word, and did not even raise her eyes. She seemed to him so +utterly transformed that, even now, when he felt her hand resting on +his arm, and saw her gliding along at his side, he was almost inclined +to doubt again whether it could really be she. He had never seen her so +yielding, so tremblingly timid, so incapable of uttering a word; and +now when he held her close and swung her in the dance, he felt more +than once as if he were whirling about in one of those strangely happy +dreams that change, in some curious way, the most familiar features, +and lead us only into the arms of the unattainable.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet, all the while he felt so wonderfully happy that he was content to +leave everything just as it was, and strove only to clasp this miracle +as closely as possible to his breast, and to enjoy the full blessedness +of this meeting as long as the dream would last. Nor did she try to +resist; indeed, she herself felt as if it were a necessity for her +to press her head and glowing face close to his shoulder, and, with +half-closed eyes, to submit herself absolutely to his guidance. He +could not see her face, for she held her head bent down; but his eyes +rested on her soft, brown hair, and his arm, clasped about her waist, +could feel how her heart was beating. No word came from the lips of +either of these two happy beings; they did not even press one another's +hands in silent sympathy, for the simple reason that both felt that +there was nothing special for them to communicate--two souls had merely +become one again. Nor did they take heed of those about them, who gazed +with earnest interest upon this noble couple the moment they entered +the room--the strangers with simple pleasure, or perhaps here and there +with envy, the initiated with heart-felt joy at the triumphant success +of their work.</p> + +<p class="normal">For them there was no outside world at this moment, no friends or +strangers. Besides the beating of their own hearts they felt nothing +but the music; and it seemed to them a heavenly kindness on the part of +fortune, that allowed them to dance instead of forcing them to talk +with one another; that the wild and merry tones of the instruments gave +them wings that lifted them above the earth, the one clasped as tightly +to the other as only the dance could have made permissible before so +many witnesses.</p> + +<p class="normal">Neither of them felt the slightest fatigue, or thought of stopping to +rest. Indeed, when the music finally came to an end, it seemed to them +as if they had just begun; and they stood in the middle of the hall, +startled, and almost painfully still, clasped in one another's embrace +as they had been in the waltz. His arm reluctantly released her figure, +but he could not bring himself to give up her little slender hand. +However, this did not appear to attract any attention, since the other +couples also were very tender with one another, and had quite enough to +do in looking after their own affairs.</p> + +<p class="normal">None of their intimate friends crossed their path. So the <i>majo</i> +succeeded in leading his gypsy unchallenged into the adjoining room, +from which even Schnetz had taken care to steal away.</p> + +<p class="normal">They walked arm-in-arm, vigorously fanning themselves, down the +flower-decked side of the hall, past the little tables, and stood +suddenly, before they suspected it, before the buffet, which had been +put up at the other end, and before which a number of waiter-girls were +selling cold viands, cake, ice, and various kinds of drinks.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will you drink something?" he said.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was the first word he had addressed to her. It struck him as being +very stupid that he had nothing more important to say to her after such +a long silence. But she did not appear to think it strange at all.</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head quite seriously, drew off her glove, and took a +large orange from one of the plates. "That is better after dancing," +she said, in a low voice. "Come, let us eat it together."</p> + +<p class="normal">They seated themselves at one of the small tables, and she drew off the +other glove and began to peel and divide the beautiful fruit with her +white little fingers. But all the while she never looked at him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Irene!" he whispered--"is it really possible? You are here--I--we are +so unexpectedly brought together again."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not unexpectedly," replied she, in a still lower tone; "I knew that +you would come--and that is the only reason why I came myself. Do you +believe I cared anything for the dancing and the masks? Feeling as I +did--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her voice failed her. The tears rose to her eyes. He bent down close to +her, and pressed his lips to the little hands that were so busily at +work.</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave a slight start. "Oh! don't, please!" she whispered, +pleadingly. "Not here, they can see us. O Felix! is it really true? You +are going away--away forever?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He did not answer for a moment, but sat absorbed in the happiness of +being so near her, of listening to her voice, of feeling her warm +breath as it came from her sweet lips. A reckless joy took possession +of his heart, an exhilarating determination to face boldly whatever +fate might have in store for him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why talk of such sad things?" said he at length--for she still kept +her anxious gaze fixed upon him, and seemed unable to understand the +joy that lit up his face--"there will be time enough for that later on, +when the ball is over and the intoxication gone, and the harsh daylight +shines once more upon our lives. This is my first happy evening for +many months; I thank you for giving it to me. I always knew that you +loved me, and if I were only a different man from what I unfortunately +am--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"O Felix!" she pleaded, looking him full in the face. "You grieve me; +it is not kind of you to shame me so, for I suffered so much before I +could bring myself to admit my fault and see myself as you must have +seen me for a long time past. O Felix! that you could love me in spite +of all--that you could grieve for me--but wait! I have a thousand +things to tell you--I must tell you them to-night--at once--but not +here among all these merry people--and look there, I see some of your +friends coming--only tell me how and where--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He had no time to answer, for at this moment Jansen approached, with +Julie hanging on his arm, both with faces that made no attempt to +conceal the part that they had taken in bringing about this great +happiness. They refrained, however, from making any remarks that might +embarrass the young couple, and simply invited them to be their +<i>vis-à-vis</i> in a quadrille that was just going to begin. A pressure of +the hand from Jansen was all that passed between the two friends in +regard to the event. But Jansen and Julie helped to eat the oranges +that were divided into sections and passed about by Irene; then, +separating into couples again, they entered the hall, where the other +couples had already taken their places.</p> + +<p class="normal">However, they were by no means sorry to be left alone, and they got up +a quadrille of their own in one of the corners near the windows, with +Schnetz and Angelica and the Capuchin and the headless martyr for side +couples.</p> + +<p class="normal">And indeed these eight figures were well calculated to afford an +inexhaustible fund of amusement for one another, and the novelty of the +contrast between the two beautiful and the two grotesque couples +attracted around them all those outsiders who, for one reason or +another, had not taken part in the dance. Nothing could have been finer +or more pleasing than when this blonde, blooming Venetian figure, +in the fullness of its ripe beauty, advanced to meet this slim, +foreign-looking, dazzling gypsy, and the hands of the two charming +creatures met, and their eyes beamed upon one another. On the other +hand, it was one of the funniest and most picturesque sights imaginable +when gaunt Alba bore down with his stiff, spidery walk upon the holy +martyr, while the Capuchin paid homage to the Suabian maiden in all +kinds of cringing and fawning attitudes. The latter seemed to be the +happiest one in the whole company at the success of the plan, +concerning which Schnetz had given her a hint some time before. She was +perpetually making mistakes in the different figures of the quadrille, +for she was always studying either the Spanish or the Venetian girl, +and was, moreover, obliged to communicate to her partner her +observations in regard to their particular fine points. She afterward +found a still more attentive listener in Rossel, who had seated himself +near by in the character of a spectator, holding Homo between his +knees, and now and then sweeping with a careless hand the strings of +the guitar that the faithful old animal still bore upon his back.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the dance ended, Julie, whose heart was glowing with gladness and +love, could not refrain from taking Irene to her arms and imprinting on +her lips the congratulation she did not dare to put in words. Irene +understood her, and blushed; but she returned the embrace with hearty +good-will, and nodded also to Angelica as if she were an old friend. +Then she took Felix's arm, and allowed him to escort her to the +supper-room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall we take a seat at the little table again?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">He shook his head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must be still more alone with you," he said. "Only be brave and +follow me. The air here begins to be oppressive."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where are you going to?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Outside. Not a breath of wind is stirring, and it is the most +beautiful spring-like weather. And you are not heated at all! I will +wrap you up in my cloak. Take my word for it, we will not even catch a +cold in the head."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go out into the dark garden?" She involuntarily slackened her step. +"What will they think of us?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That we love one another, my darling, and want to be alone. Besides, +it will occur to very few of these good people to miss us, or to make +any remarks about the subject. And since you have once ventured into +this bad society, and no one knows what may happen to-morrow, and +whether there will still be time then--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right," she interrupted hastily. "It was merely the last sign +of the stupid old habit. Come; I think myself I should not be alive +to-morrow if the night passed without my having told you everything."</p> + +<p class="normal">He drew her close to his side, and they left the hall together. The +angel with the flaming sword had fallen asleep over his mug of beer; +but as Felix had been the last to arrive, he easily found his hat and +cloak in the dressing-room without Fridolin's assistance. He carefully +wrapped a large woolen shawl, which he recognized as belonging to +Angelica, about the head and shoulders of his sweetheart, and then +threw his own cloak over the whole, so that she would have been well +protected even for a colder night.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But don't cover up your face entirely; I must have a chance to find +your lips!" he whispered, and immediately kissed her as if to put her +to the test. But she held him tight, and with a passionate submission, +of which he had hardly believed her capable, returned his kiss and held +up her glowing face to his, submitting to his stormy caresses in happy +confusion, and returning them anew.</p> + +<p class="normal">Not until she was startled by a noise did she ask him in a pleading +voice to desist. Then he put his arm about her and went out with her +into the mild winter's night, covered peacefully in its snowy mantle. +No star looked down from heaven, but it seemed to these two happy +beings, wandering all alone among the trees, as if the world about them +were in flames, and they were walking through it unscathed, for in +their hearts there raged a hotter fire.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">In the mean time the ball went on, notwithstanding the absence of this +happy couple, and no one seemed to miss anything. But the later it grew +the more impatiently did the eyes of the red-bearded Capuchin wander +toward the door through which he was expecting the angel of Paradise to +enter and announce that a guest in a cowl was standing outside the door +and waiting for admission. He racked his brains in the vain effort to +imagine what could possibly have detained his lady, who, only a short +time before, had expressed such a strong desire to be present at the +masquerade; and when it struck eleven, and nothing had appeared, he +secretly gave up the affair as lost. As he had made up his mind that +the mysterious stranger would in the end reveal herself in all her +beauty, and afford him an opportunity to celebrate a great triumph, he +naturally felt very much put out at finding that he had been playing a +fool's part, and he slunk about as embarrassed and wretched as a wet +sparrow.</p> + +<p class="normal">But his distress proved useless, after all. The intermission that +preceded the cotillon had begun, and every one had streamed into the +supper-room to eat and drink, when Fridolin, entering the hall with his +flaming sword under his arm, nodded to him mysteriously, and whispered +that there was some one outside who wished to speak with him. The monk +rushed into the hall with most unclerical haste, and was not +disappointed. She whom he expected stood before him.</p> + +<p class="normal">She acknowledged his welcome, but in such a formal tone that he found a +good deal of difficulty in stammering out some gallant reproaches for +her late arrival. Her chief anxiety seemed to be that her disguise was +not sufficient to prevent her from being recognized. When he had +somewhat relieved her fears on this score and had, as an additional +precaution, arranged her white eyebrows and beard so that they should +cover a little more of the delicate face, she asked why no music could +be heard from the hall. He explained to her the reason of the pause, +and wanted to escort her in without further ceremony. But she insisted +upon waiting until the dance should begin again, and begged him to +leave her and rejoin the company until that time.</p> + +<p class="normal">His chivalrous heart would not consent to this, so he staid outside +with the beautiful unknown, who had taken possession of the chair at +Fridolin's table, and who answered in monosyllables to his neat +speeches and appeared to be in a strange state of excitement, and +entirely absorbed in her own thoughts.</p> + +<p class="normal">At length, the first sound of the fiddle inside gave the signal for his +release; but not until the trembling of the floor made it apparent that +the couples had once more begun the dance, did the muffled figure rise +and seize the arm of her companion. Rosenbusch felt that she trembled +slightly; he could not imagine what should make her, but he was already +too much abashed by her reserve to rally her upon her strange timidity.</p> + +<p class="normal">The fact that the friar had suddenly associated himself with a +colleague did not at first make the sensation he had expected. Then, +when the attention of one person after another was drawn to the pair of +monks, there was no doubt in the mind of any one as to the identity of +the smaller friar, who betrayed the woman both in manner and carriage. +The love affair of the battle-painter was too well known not to make +every one suspect that the thick white beard, and the bushy eyebrows, +concealed the features of the fair Nanny. The fact of her coming so +late confirmed this supposition. She had been obliged to wait until her +parents were asleep, so that she might steal to the ball undetected. +They all wished her hearty joy of her stolen pleasure, and were only +surprised--since no one doubted her fondness for dancing--that she did +not at once join her companion in a waltz, instead of drawing her cowl +still lower over her eyes and walking slowly past the different groups, +examining the costumes with a searching glance.</p> + +<p class="normal">In this fashion the couple had already passed down the whole length of +the hall, when this puzzling woman suddenly stood still and dropped her +companion's arm. Her movement was so violent that Rosenbusch gazed at +her in amazement. He saw that her eyes were fixed intently upon the +seats near the window, where Jansen and Julie, and some of the others +who did not care to dance, had again taken their places. But the dance +had just come to an end, and those who had been seated had risen in +order to mingle with the crowd. The blue eyes under the white eyebrows +followed them eagerly, and seemed to take no notice of anything else +that passed around them. So much so, at all events, that the efforts of +the tall Englishman, who wished the decapitated martyr to introduce him +to the new monk, might just as well have been addressed to a statue.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is the matter, madame?" whispered Rosenbusch. "You have grown +very pale; I can see that notwithstanding your cowl. I will lead you to +the chairs--you must rest a moment. That noble Venetian over there is +my friend Jansen, a splendid sculptor, and the beautiful woman on his +arm--"</p> + +<p class="normal">But she was not listening. Without taking his arm again, she had +stepped forward to the empty seat and sunk into a chair.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rosenbusch stood before her in great embarrassment. He knew less and +less what to make of this extraordinary creature.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was just thinking that he would try and give a humorous turn to the +affair, by reminding her that she was in Paradise and not in a convent, +when he saw her leap up as if she were set on springs.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had been frightened by the sound of a deep, angry growl. She +turned, trembling from head to foot, and beheld the old dog, who had +been sleeping behind the chair, as his custom was, but who now raised +himself up, and, wagging his shaggy tail back and forth, fixed a pair +of glowing eyes upon the guest.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take me away!--take me away!" she whispered to Rosenbusch, and seized +his arm. "That furious beast--don't you see how he glares at me? Good +Heavens, how frightened I am!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't be at all alarmed, dear madame; it is only old Homo. Here, in +Paradise, where the lion lies down by the lamb--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She clung convulsively to his sleeve, and drew him away from the +windows. But it really did seem as though the strange old animal, who +paid no attention whatever to the other figures, took a particular +interest in the Capuchin's double.</p> + +<p class="normal">He followed the couple with stately, dignified step, no matter in which +direction they turned, shaking his big ears from time to time and +emitting that hoarse growl which, with him, was always a sign of +violent excitement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For God's sake, free me from this monster!" cried the frightened +woman, in a choking voice. "I have an unconquerable horror of all dogs, +even when they are gentle. And this one--unless you put him out you +will force me to leave the hall."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Down, Homo!--down, old boy!" said the battle-painter, looking round +for Jansen with growing embarrassment, for he did not dare to turn out +this old and honored guest of Paradise upon his own responsibility. But +the animal seemed no longer to recognize the voice of his friend and +house-mate. As Rosenbusch put out his hand in order to take him by the +collar and gently conduct him out, a howl burst from his throat, so +fierce and threatening, that every one standing near started back in +alarm. The familiar sound reached Jansen's ear also.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's the matter with the old fellow?" he said, listening. "I must go +and see," and with these words he turned away from Julie, who, with +Angelica, was just on the point of going in search of the young couple +whose disappearance they had at last begun to notice.</p> + +<p class="normal">The music, which had just begun again, broke off suddenly, for a second +howl was heard through the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">At this moment Jansen reached the group that had gathered about the +dog, and called him by name. The animal obediently turned his head +toward his master; but, when his victim tried to take advantage of this +movement to slip away quickly in the crowd, the dog gave forth a still +more angry growl, leaped with a powerful spring after the retreating +figure, and caught the end of the gown in his teeth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Back, Homo! Come here--back!" cried Jansen, in a voice of command.</p> + +<p class="normal">But the animal continued to keep his hold. A low cry came from beneath +the cowl, and the little hand which was carefully held before the face +trembled violently, while the other struggled to tear loose the gown. +At this moment, Stephanopulos forced his way through the stupefied +crowd of spectators. With a quick movement he seized the furious animal +by the throat, with the intention of forcing it back. The dog's teeth +let go the gown, but, though a wild howl came from his powerful throat +and his eyes turned with a furious glare upon the bold intruder, he +succeeded in laying his heavy forepaws on the cord that answered for a +girdle, and with such violence that the muffled figure staggered and +fell upon the floor. The animal at once laid one of his paws upon the +prostrate figure, and, with a loud bark of triumph and violently +lashing his tail back and forth, stood by the side of his prey, with an +aspect so horrible that even Jansen recoiled from him.</p> + +<p class="normal">True, it was not this sudden outbreak of fury in his old companion that +made him stagger back and stare in horror at the prostrate figure. In +her confusion and alarm the stranger had let her cowl fall back, her +white beard drop off, and for a few seconds they saw a woman's pale +face looking out from the disguise long enough for it to be recognized +by Jansen and the young Greek at his side.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you crazy?" cried the latter, excited still more by the sudden +discovery. "Why do you stand there like a statue? Drag off this mad +beast before an accident happens, or by all the devils--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Jansen did not move. His face was ashy pale; they could see his teeth +clinched tightly behind his parted lips. All around was breathless +stillness, broken only by the heavy breathing of the dog.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then we must help ourselves as best we can!" cried Stephanopulos. "To +hell with this devil's brute!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Quick as a flash he unsheathed a long dagger that was stuck in his +belt, and before any one could interfere he had driven the sharp steel +down the wide-opened throat of the old animal.</p> + +<p class="normal">A frightful howl, stifled the next moment by a stream of blood, and +then the powerful animal fell back, and, with a dull rattling in the +throat, dropped dead beside the woman in the cowl.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">All this time the two lovers outside in the garden, absorbed in their +happiness, and covered warm with Felix's broad Spanish cloak, had heard +nothing of the gathering storm within-doors, and had not noticed that +the clouds had begun to dissolve in a fine rain. But in a little while +the wind began to rise, shaking the soft snow from the branches, and +driving the cold drops of rain into their faces.</p> + +<p class="normal">Even then Irene expressed no desire to be taken back into the house. +She would have liked to wander by his side forever, through rain and +storm. But he, careful of her health, laughingly insisted upon +"bringing his little lamb under cover." "We must take care not to catch +cold," he said. "There are certain times when a cold stands very much +in the way of lovers. Come, my darling! I feel as if I should like to +dance all night long with you. Good Heavens! what work we shall have in +making up for lost time!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She hung on his arm in full submission. But at this moment they heard +the dying howl of the old animal, horribly breaking in upon the +stillness of the night.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is that?" said Felix. "That sounds altogether too serious for any +masquerading joke. In the tropics I was used to such nocturnal voices, +and slept quietly in spite of them. But here, under this wintry sky--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He hurried her toward the house. Then they saw a back-door suddenly +thrown open, and two muffled figures rush out hastily and run toward a +carriage that was standing waiting in the side-street, about thirty +steps from the house, just as on the night when the burning picture +disappeared.</p> + +<p class="normal">They could distinguish nothing but the outline of a monk's cowl.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rosenbusch!" cried Felix.</p> + +<p class="normal">But this call merely had the effect of causing the fleeing persons to +redouble their speed. The next moment they reached the carriage, and +something white gleamed in the darkness, which Felix's keen eye thought +it recognized as the fustanella of the young Greek; then the door +was slammed-to, and the carriage rolled off into the darkness at a +break-neck pace.</p> + +<p class="normal">The pair gazed after it in amazement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What can it mean?" cried Irene.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix said nothing, but shook his head and hurried her on toward the +door. They found Fridolin at his post, but with eyes that glared so +from fright and sudden awakening that they did not stop to ask him any +questions, but, throwing off their wet wraps, hastened into the hall.</p> + +<p class="normal">Here a most startling sight greeted their view.</p> + +<p class="normal">Jansen was crouched motionless on the floor, holding on his knee the +bloody head of the dog, his gaze fixed on the stiff, outstretched limbs +of his old friend, whose convulsive twitching marked the last pulsation +of his ebbing blood.</p> + +<p class="normal">Julie was kneeling at his side, taking no heed of her yellow skirts, +that were spotted with large stains from the dark pool. Their friends +were standing about them, completely stupefied; and even the musicians +crept down from the platform, in their grotesque animal costumes, and +mixed in among the guests.</p> + +<p class="normal">At this moment the gaunt figure of Alba, in the shape of their friend +Schnetz, stepped out of the awe-struck crowd, advanced to the +astonished pair, and, taking them aside, told them all that had passed +while they had been out in the garden, pouring out their hearts to one +another in utter ignorance of what was going on within. In what +connection these puzzling occurrences stood to one another, the +lieutenant did not pretend to know. When they recovered from the first +shock, and looked about for the author of the whole trouble, they +discovered that she had disappeared from the hall with the young Greek.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rosenbusch then joined them, and Angelica and Elfinger. The +battle-painter was plunged in a truly pitiable state of despondency at +the tragic end of his adventure. Innocent as he was of it all, he +nevertheless persisted in accusing himself of being the author of the +murderous affair by introducing this mysterious guest. He gave a +detailed account of the way in which he had made her acquaintance, and +asserted again and again that she had done absolutely nothing to +provoke the dog. But let that be as it would, the mischief had been +done; the ball was spoiled, and Jansen had lost his good old comrade.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix listened to all this with clouded brow. Then he pushed his way +through the crowd, and went up to Jansen. The dog had just drawn his +last breath. Jansen sprung to his feet when he felt the hand of his +friend on his shoulder. He drew himself up erect, and then raised Julie +from her knees, but without uttering a word, while his bright eyes, +sunk deep in their sockets, wandered slowly about, as if he were trying +to remember where he was.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have they gone?" he said, after a long pause.</p> + +<p class="normal">No one answered. Julie took his hand and spoke gently to him, and he +replied by a vacant smile and a nod. Then, with a violent shudder, he +roused himself, and strode out of the group that had gathered about the +dead animal. He advanced to his friends, and, speaking once more in his +usual voice, requested Schnetz to send for a carriage, as he wished to +take the dead dog home. Then, with few words, but with a manner that +forbade all remonstrances, he entreated them not to be disturbed on his +account, and not to leave the ball. He made even Julie promise this, +and forced himself to speak quite as usual. After this he took +Rosenbusch aside, and conversed with him in a low voice for a +considerable time, never lifting his eyes from the floor; finally he +shook hands with him, and left the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">Julie and Felix accompanied him out to the carriage, in which the body +of the dog had been already laid. He got in with evident difficulty, +and gave the two at parting a hand that was as cold as ice. He did all +this as if he were still enveloped in some dream, from which even the +presence and sympathy of those most dear to him could not arouse him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Fridolin had mounted on the box by the side of the driver, and in this +fashion they pursued their long drive through the cold, rainy night, +and drew up in front of the studio just as the clock was striking +twelve. The driver lent them his assistance in lifting the heavy body +of the dog out of the carriage, and carrying him in. They laid him down +in the little garden behind the house, and, with shovel and pickaxe, +dug a deep grave, into which they lowered the huge animal. The driver +had gone on his way again, and Jansen stood motionless on the brink of +the grave, gazing down on the dark mass that they were leaving there to +crumble into dust. But Fridolin took the two artificial roses which had +belonged to his angel's dress, and which he still wore behind his ears, +and cast them down upon the dead animal.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is winter," he said, "and a dark night; and we have nothing +fresher. But go and get some sleep, Herr Professor. I will put his bed +in order with my spade. And though he was only an animal, perhaps after +all we shall see him again at the resurrection; and if there should be +a heaven for dogs, Herr Professor, he will go there sooner than many a +priest. And why? Because he knew what friendship and kindness meant; +and that is what nine men out of ten don't know; and he never treated a +poor fellow-man like a dog, which can't be said of everybody. I don't +think the good God will object if I offer up a few paternosters for the +poor dog's soul."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jansen nodded in silence, and turned away. Then he went into the house, +and stepped into his studio. It was cold as ice in the large room; the +wind roared down the chimney, and rattled in the iron stove. Yet for +all that the unhappy man could not make up his mind to go back to his +lodgings. He threw himself upon the low sofa and spread his cloak over +his benumbed limbs. So he lay there perfectly still, and listened to +the falling of the rain and the noise made by the spade. His eyes were +shut. But for all that he never ceased to see, in the darkness of his +own heart, a pale face, only too well known, from which the mask had +just fallen, and which, despite its frightened, supplicating look, +stared up at him like the head of Medusa.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">When he started up, late in the morning, after a short sleep, and saw +the snow drifting sadly down outside the window, the face at once rose +up before him again; and the frightened look of those blue eyes, that +he had hoped never to see more, and that now came to begin anew their +designs upon his happiness, made him shudder even more than the harsh +breath of the winter morning. And yet at first he had difficulty in +believing that it had really happened. It was only from his great +exhaustion that he realized what a storm he had passed through.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was surprised himself at the stolid, torpid, icy calmness with which +he was able to look back on the frightful scene, as if the apparition +of the night, that yesterday made his hair stand on end, had no power +over him in broad daylight. He thought about the loss of his faithful +old companion too, as something that had happened long ago. But he was +pained by the thought that he had let the faithful animal be buried in +his masquerade trappings, with the gaudy ribbons and the guitar on his +back. He even went so far as to seriously deliberate whether he should +not have the grave opened again and cleared of all the tawdry finery. +However, he put it off until evening; and when evening came he had much +more pressing matters to attend to.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was firmly resolved to put an end to this condition of affairs; to +tear the ever-rankling and festering barb from out the wound, let it +cost what it might. How this could best be done he did not know as yet. +But upon one point his mind was definitely made up; he owed it to Julie +to render a repetition of such scenes impossible.</p> + +<p class="normal">He left the studio and went into the city. He directed his steps to the +hotel where the Russian countess was staying. To his amazement, he +learned there that no one had ever heard of this Madame St.-Aubain, +which was the name Rosenbusch had given him the preceding evening. The +porter did, indeed, remember a person such as Jansen described; the +lady spent the whole day with the countess no later than yesterday. But +she was not stopping in the hotel, and he had not learned what her name +was.</p> + +<p class="normal">He would speak about it to the countess herself: could he see her for a +moment? asked the sculptor.</p> + +<p class="normal">The porter looked at his watch. It was only nine o'clock; He had orders +to admit no one before eleven.</p> + +<p class="normal">So there was nothing left for him but to be patient, hard as it was.</p> + +<p class="normal">Wandering about without any definite plan, his heart led him to where +Julie lived. But, the moment he saw the house in the distance, he +turned back. It was impossible for him to look her in the face again +until he could say to her: "It is all over; you have nothing more to +fear from my past; the spectre has been sent back among the dead."</p> + +<p class="normal">He went into the Pinakothek, where at this time of the year and day the +large, unheated halls stand empty. He stretched himself on the sofa +that stands in the centre of the immense room, and looked over the +walls with half closed eyes. The power and warmth of life of these +noble pictures acted, without his knowing it, upon his spirits, and his +mood continued to grow quieter and more gentle, until at last he fell +fast asleep, his hat pushed down so low over his eyes that the +attendants and the few visitors took him for an exceedingly studious +painter, who made use of his hat-brim to protect him from the +reflection of the light from above.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had to make up for the sleep he had lost in the night; thus three, +four hours went by without his waking. At length one of the attendants, +to whom the matter began to look rather odd, stepped up and discovered +who it was. However, he had altogether too much respect for the artist +to disturb his sleep before the time came for closing the gallery. +Jansen sprang to his feet, asked what time it was, and was startled to +find how many hours he had lost. He left the gallery in great haste, +and hurried to the hotel.</p> + +<p class="normal">The countess was too unwell to receive any visits today, the porter +told him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Jansen shrugged his shoulders, growled out a few unintelligible words, +and began to mount the stairs without paying any further heed to this +answer. Up-stairs he received a similar reply from the countess's maid, +who met him in the corridor.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take this card to the countess. I regret to disturb her, but it is +absolutely necessary that I speak with her."</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl took the card, acted as though the name which she read on it +was perfectly unknown to her, and then remarked:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Just at this moment it is really quite impossible for the countess to +receive you. The doctor is with her and is renewing the bandages. That +always gives her such pain that she is forced to lie perfectly still +for two or three hours after the operation, unless she would have +convulsions. Perhaps, if you would be good enough to call again toward +evening--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Jansen gave the tricky girl a look that confused even her brazen face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am convinced, my good girl, that you are lying to me in the most +cold-blooded manner possible; the doctor is not with your mistress, nor +does she need repose. I have a great mind to thrust you aside and +quietly make my way in for myself. But, in order that your mistress may +be convinced that I am entirely courteous, I will act as though I +really believed you, and call again in a few hours. But then--" and he +raised his voice a little, in case there should be any one behind the +door, listening to the conversation--"then I shall expect that the +nerves of the countess will have nothing to say against my requesting a +ten minutes' interview. It is now two o'clock. At four I shall take the +liberty of knocking again at this door."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps it is just as well," he said, as he went down the stairs. "I +have eaten nothing since yesterday evening. An empty stomach goes badly +with diplomatic negotiations. And I want to keep as cool as possible."</p> + +<p class="normal">He stepped into a restaurant, hurriedly took a little food, and +hastened to get out into the street again. He felt better out in the +cold air than anywhere else; he sauntered slowly along, like a +promenader in the most beautiful spring weather, baring his head to the +storm and letting the flakes of snow fall upon his hair and forehead, +so that the people whom he met turned to look after him. As he had a +long time to wait before the appointed hour would arrive, he wandered +through the town, and at last, by roundabout ways, came back once more +to his atelier. Fridolin reported that Miss Julie had been there twice +in person, and the second time had written something. The lieutenant +and the other gentlemen had also been there to see him, and the baron +made him take him to the grave and tell him the whole story. Herr +Rosenbusch was the only one who had not yet appeared, and Fräulein +Angelica had only shown herself a moment, just to water her flowers, +and had gone away again. However, he had made a fire in the studio, and +it was warm in among the saints also, although the assistants had taken +a holiday on their own account.</p> + +<p class="normal">Had the professor--for so he obstinately persisted in calling +Jansen--any further orders to give?</p> + +<p class="normal">Jansen shook his head and entered his workshop. He found Julie's note. +She begged him, in Italian, which they had been studying together for +some months, to release her from the agonizing uncertainty in regard to +his mood and in regard to what he intended to do. She was only going +out to make a visit to Irene, and then she would stay at home and +expect him. The note closed with a few loving words and another +earnest request for him to come to her that evening, all of which did +him unspeakable good.</p> + +<p class="normal">But he remained firm in his determination not to go to her until he had +cleared up the whole matter.</p> + +<p class="normal">He sat down on the sofa and had just begun to draw up a small table, in +order to write her a few comforting lines, when a quick knock on the +door interrupted him.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was startled to see Frances's nurse come in. This little woman, who +had a houseful of children and a head full of cares, seldom visited +him--and never without her little charge.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her black eyes, usually so cheery, began to spy anxiously about in +every corner of the studio, the moment she had entered it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is your child here?" she stammered breathlessly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"With me? No. What made you think so?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He stepped up to her hastily. "What is the matter, my good woman? Did +you send little Frances here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not here! Oh! Heavens!--but perhaps she may be up-stairs with Fräulein +Angelica--without your knowing about it. I will go right up--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Fräulein Angelica is not up-stairs; I am all alone in the house. Tell +me, for God's sake--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He stopped suddenly; a horrible suspicion paralyzed his tongue.</p> + +<p class="normal">The exhausted woman sank down on the pedestal of the great group, and +wiped her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The child--?" he asked at length, with great difficulty.</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked up at him with supplicating eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't kill me! I don't know where it is--some one has taken it +away--my anxiety drove me here--I have done all I can!--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She seemed to expect nothing less than that he would strike her dead +after hearing this confession.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, as he stood motionless, she mustered up courage to tell him, in a +disconnected way, what had happened. She had gone into the city after +dinner, and her old mother had, as usual, taken charge of the children. +Immediately after she went out--as if she had only been waiting for +that--a strange lady had come to the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Young, with blue eyes?" interrupted the sculptor, with difficulty +unclinching his teeth.</p> + +<p class="normal">No. An elderly lady, not far from fifty, dressed in black and heavily +veiled. She asked for Frances, and said she was to bring her to +Fräulein Julie, only for half an hour. It was a surprise they were +preparing for the father, she said; Fräulein Angelica was going to make +a sketch of the child; a drosky was waiting outside the door, and she +asked the good grandmamma to put on the child's little cloak, but not +to make any other change in its dress. The old woman, as soon as her +deafness allowed her to catch the meaning of this story, had thought it +rather strange, at first; but the explanation given by the stranger +that Fräulein Angelica was prevented from coming and getting the child +herself, by a slight cold she had caught on the evening before, had +quieted her again. Besides, the child would be brought back in a couple +of hours; Fräulein Julie would bring it home herself. As the stranger +seemed to be so well acquainted with all the people and circumstances +of which she spoke, the old woman could offer no reasonable objection. +But the stranger had scarcely left the house when she was filled with +an unaccountable anxiety, and had impatiently awaited her daughter's +return.</p> + +<p class="normal">She, however, had been detained in the city longer than she had +expected by a number of errands; and, when she finally did return and +found that the child had not been brought back, she immediately set out +in the greatest anxiety to look for it. But she found no trace either +at Julie's (who was herself absent, the old servant Erich said, for she +had not come back to her dinner at the usual time), or at Angelica's +house. At the latter place they told her that the artist had not gone +out until about noon, for she had risen very late; besides, she had +found the weather too dark for working. Her last faint hope had been +that the child would be found at her father's--and here, too, there was +no trace of her!</p> + +<p class="normal">The woman's eyes filled with tears while telling him the story. She had +slipped down from the pedestal and now lay, weeping bitterly, at the +feet of the silent man, as if she would disarm his anger by this humble +posture.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Calm yourself!" she heard him say at last. "You are innocent in the +whole affair. Believe me; the child is not lost--oh, no! it is in +excellent hands. Can a child be safer anywhere than with the mother who +bore it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The weeping woman raised herself and looked at him inquiringly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes!" he repeated, laughing bitterly. "You have never been told +about that, my good friend; it was very thoughtless of me not to have +spoken to you about it the very first thing this morning. My wife has +made her appearance again; she gave me a specimen of her acting last +night--a benefit performance in Paradise--a short scene, but very +effective. And now this is the second act. That the third, in which I +am to play too, will be the last, you may be very sure."</p> + +<p class="normal">"She is here, she has the child, and you know where she is to be +found?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not yet. However, I know some one who knows all about it, whom I think +I can talk into giving me the necessary information. By-the-way, it +must be about the time--almost four o'clock; let us go!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go alone, unless you have particular need of me. My knees can hardly +bear me. The anxiety--Oh! let me rest here just for a few moments."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll order a drosky. You mustn't think of walking back such a long +distance. We will ride part of the way together."</p> + +<p class="normal">He called the janitor and sent him out for a carriage. Then he paced +with long strides up and down the studio in profound silence, while the +woman sank back into a chair, and struggled hard to compose herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the midst of this painful stillness, they all at once heard the +voice of the battle-painter in the entry.</p> + +<p class="normal">He and Felix came in together, and his unsteady step, pale face, and +disheveled aspect, showed plainly enough that the horrors of the +preceding night were still fresh in his memory. He greeted Jansen with +a most depressed mien, and the jokes that he tried to make sounded +anything but cheerful. He would not have shown himself in such a +wretched condition had he not happened to fall in with something that +might possibly be of importance to Jansen.</p> + +<p class="normal">An hour ago he had crept into the open air for the first time that day, +his head still heavy from the wine that he had dolefully poured down +his throat the night before, in the hope of drowning his dismay at that +murderous tragedy with poor old Homo. As he did not want to meet any of +his acquaintances, he took the road that leads out through the gates, +visiting, among other places, the cemetery, and feeling quite in a mood +to seek a resting-place there himself.</p> + +<p class="normal">On his return, as he was passing the Sendling gate, he saw a traveling +carriage, loaded down with trunks, roll out and turn into the country +high-road.</p> + +<p class="normal">This struck him as being rather a peculiar proceeding at this time of +year and in this century of railways; and for that reason he looked +pretty closely at the equipage as it drove by. To his great amazement +he recognized in one of the ladies, who was just bending forward a +little, the stranger of the night before, the mysterious Madame de +St.-Aubain, while sitting opposite her on the back seat was no less a +person than that Greek Don Juan, Monsieur Stephanopulos. They were +talking earnestly with one another, and did not notice him. The lady +looked devilish pretty, her face being set off very coquettishly by a +black spangled baschlik, and her blue eyes--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, what's the matter with you, Jansen?" he cried, breaking off in +alarm, for he saw his friend suddenly grow pale. "I thought I was +telling you pleasant news, in reporting that this fatal person, and the +murderer of poor Homo, were taking themselves out of your sight--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did you see a child with them?" cried the sculptor, almost beside +himself, and turning fiercely upon the innocent narrator.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A child? It is possible there was a child in the carriage. At least I +saw all sorts of wrappings and shawls lying on the other two seats. +But, for heaven's sake, my friend--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good! Thank you. I know enough. An hour ago, you say? And on the +Sendling post-road? Good! Excuse me, my good woman--I--I must be off. +But I must be prepared for all emergencies."</p> + +<p class="normal">He rushed up to the old wardrobe in the corner, tore open the door with +trembling hands, and drew out an old-fashioned pistol, covered with +dust and rust.</p> + +<p class="normal">At this moment he felt Felix's hand on his shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is it?" he said, without turning round.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I am going with you," said his friend, in a suppressed +voice. "As matters stand, I think I know pretty well what the trouble +is. What I don't yet know, you can explain to me on the road; but I can +never let you start alone on this sad hunt; and, as my blood is cooler +than yours, you must let me be the leader. They chose the highway +because the telegraph would have cut them off if they had gone by rail, +and they have not got much of a start yet. For this reason, I think +there can be no doubt but what we shall overtake them if we take +horses. Come! The drosky that Fridolin has just ordered will take us in +ten minutes to the stable where I hire my horses. Then we will ride by +my lodgings, and, if you insist upon it, I will put my revolver in my +pocket. That old horse-pistol wouldn't inspire Herr Stephanopulos with +any great respect. Do you agree to this, old boy?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let me follow in the carriage," pleaded the little woman. "I shall die +of anxiety unless I do, and who knows but what I can be of good service +to you. The poor child, and among strange people too, may be made sick +by the fright and the cold drive--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix quieted her as well as he could, and his firm, determined bearing +had so good an effect that Rosenbusch also promised to keep perfectly +quiet until their return, and not alarm either Julie or Angelica by +saying anything about the matter. Then Felix pushed his friend, who +submitted to his guidance like a child, out of the room, stopped a +moment on the stairs to write a word of excuse to Irene, who was +expecting him that evening, and then, getting into the drosky, he +ordered the driver to drive as fast as possible. Half an hour later the +two friends, mounted on fast horses, were spurring along the highroad +that runs from the Sendling gate across the broad Isar plain into the +mountains beyond.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">The mist of evening hung over the still country. The heavy snow-clouds, +piled into huge heaps by the winds, drifted slowly across the dreary +sky, now and then letting fall a stray flake. To the right and left of +the road, whose deep ruts were filled with a half-frozen slush, the +trees stretched up to heaven their black and dripping branches, on +which even the crows refused to alight.</p> + +<p class="normal">In this dismal wintry desert, where, far and wide, no human being could +be seen, where no dog barked at the horses, the words seemed to freeze +on the lips of the two horsemen. Jansen had informed Felix only of +those facts which were positively essential to a knowledge of the case; +of his determination to make an end of the affair, and his belief that +the abduction of the child was either to be used as a means of +extorting some concessions from him, or else that it was a mere trick +on the part of the mother to let him feel her power, and to present +herself to the world in the character of an abused wife, who sought by +this desperate deed to recover a right of which she had long been +deprived.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix had but little to say in reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps it is better, after all, that the matter should be brought to +a crisis," he thought to himself. "Who knows how long it would have +dragged on if he had always been obliged to negotiate from a distance. +If he only keeps cool and puts forth all his energy, he will probably +effect more now, when it is likely that her conscience troubles her in +regard to the farce of yesterday, than he could otherwise have hoped +for."</p> + +<p class="normal">Whereupon he put spurs to his horse, and, in spite of the interest with +which his friend's fate inspired him, relapsed into his own thoughts. +He had been with Irene for a few hours that morning. The feeling that +he brought away with him from those happy hours, the certainty that +henceforth his way was clear before him, took complete possession of +him, and made him unsusceptible to all the dreariness of this strange +ride. In addition to this he was filled with joy at being able to help +his friend at such a moment, as well as at being a witness of the +favorable change which he believed was about to take place in Jansen's +lot. Absorbed in these thoughts, he caught himself whistling a merry +tune, and beating time to it with his riding-whip; but, seeing that +Jansen suddenly spurred on his horse and rode past him, he broke off, +urged his own animal to greater speed, and, after overtaking his friend +again, rode along at a sharp trot by the side of his brooding +companion.</p> + +<p class="normal">Upon reaching the next village--where, notwithstanding the early hour, +everybody seemed to have gone to bed--they drew up before the tavern, +and made inquiries concerning a traveling-carriage that they thought +must have passed by the place. The few peasants who were in the guests' +room, playing cards with the landlord, came out to the door, and gave +it as their opinion that, at this time of year, no other carriage than +the doctor's or the priest's one-horse chaise would show itself in +those parts. They stood shaking their heads, and looking after the +retiring horsemen, as they again dashed forward.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We shall overtake them in Grossheselohe, at the railway bridge," said +Felix. "They can't cross there with the carriage, and will wait for the +express train, so as to go on early to-morrow morning. They <i>must</i> have +passed, unless Rosenbusch was dreaming. These people in the tavern are +so befogged with beer and schnapps, that it is very probable they +didn't hear the wheels."</p> + +<p class="normal">They reached the village of Grossheselohe as one of the church clocks +was striking six. A rather lively company was assembled in the village +ale-house. The waiter-girl, who stepped to the door upon hearing the +approaching sound of horses' hoofs, knew nothing of any carriage +bringing strangers from the city. But a drunken hostler, who came +staggering out of one of the stalls, muttered some unintelligible words +and pointed to the road leading into the wood, though he could not be +induced to give any more distinct information.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Forward!" cried Felix. "We have no other choice, and I know the road +through the wood. Undoubtedly, Stephanopulos is also very well +acquainted with the country about here. This region was the classic +site of the May festivals that the artists used to give. Take my word +for it, we shall find our fugitives in the next village."</p> + +<p class="normal">He urged on his horse, but the heavy darkness now forced them to +moderate their speed. Riding at a walk, they plunged into the blackness +of the little wood which fringes the high bank of the Isar, and which, +in summertime, is the goal of so many weary city-folk. Now, it was so +gloomy that even Felix felt a cold shudder pass through his very bones. +Down in the deep ravines the water roared, and the wind sighed +mournfully through the bare tree-tops. Jansen's animal shied and +reared, but his rider sat in the saddle like the stone Commendatore; he +had hardly spoken a word for an hour.</p> + +<p class="normal">Suddenly Felix reined in his horse. "Do you see there?" said he, in a +suppressed voice. "I'll wager we have them. It's high time. My horse +has gone lame in its right fore-foot."</p> + +<p class="normal">Across a cleared patch in the wood they saw the village which the +artists had used as a rallying-point in the picnics of which Felix +had spoken. A house, with a rather high roof, stood out like a +silhouette against the gray sky, showing, in its second story, a +row of brightly-lighted windows.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Unless they happen to be celebrating a wedding here, other guests must +be in those rooms," said Felix. "Let's ride nearer, and cut across this +field; although there's not much fear that they could escape us now, +even if we should besiege their hiding-place from the open road."</p> + +<p class="normal">The horses, giving a low neigh--for they scented a crib of +oats--stamped through the slippery mud, and drew up before the fence +that separated the inn court-yard from the street.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We are right," whispered Felix, who stood up in his stirrups in +order to look over the fence. "The carriage is standing there in the +yard--two people are busy unloading the trunks--the fellow holding the +lantern is probably the coachman. Now for it, in God's name!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He swung himself from his horse, and stepped up to his friend to help +him out of the saddle. "Come," he said, patting the streaming horse on +the neck. "Whatever you are going to do, do it quickly. You will +probably find the whole company together, up-stairs; and, while you are +doing what is right up there, I will see to our horses and follow in +five minutes. Or do you want me to go up with you at once?"</p> + +<p class="normal">A deep sigh, the first sign of life that the silent man had yet given, +was the only answer. He seemed to have considerable difficulty in +getting out of the stirrups, as if his limbs were frozen fast to the +saddle. Then he stood for a few moments in a deep reverie, and seemed +to be struggling to get the better of a strong aversion, before he +could bring himself to enter the house. Felix accompanied him as far as +the door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Remember to keep down that Berserker blood of yours!" he whispered to +him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Jansen nodded, and pressed his hand as if to ratify the vow. Then he +stood still again, raised his hat to wipe his forehead, and then strode +quickly across the threshold.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix gazed after him with a feeling of painful sympathy. He would much +rather have undertaken this difficult mission in his friend's stead. +But he knew him too well to dare even to propose such a thing.</p> + +<p class="normal">So he led the two horses by the bridles, pushed open the gate, and +entered the court.</p> + +<p class="normal">The hostlers, who were busied about the traveling-carriage, rose up and +stared in amazement when they heard the sound of horses' hoofs, and saw +this young stranger coolly approaching them.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-evening!" he said. "I suppose you still have room in your stable +and a few dry blankets. These beasts are as wet as if they had just +been drawn out of the water."</p> + +<p class="normal">No answer. The coachman turned the lantern full in the face of the +new-comer, and shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You'll be no losers for taking good care of my animals," continued +Felix. "In the mean time, I think I can find the stable-door for +myself."</p> + +<p class="normal">Without further parley he took the lantern from the coachman's +hand--who, in his confusion, was at a loss how to bear himself toward +this distinguished-looking gentleman--and proceeded to light his horses +to the manger.</p> + +<p class="normal">At this moment he heard a voice calling across the court, urging the +people who were unpacking the carriage to make haste. The owner of this +voice stepped out of the back-door; and, seeing the people standing +there idle, he marched quickly up to the spot with the intention of +giving them a sound rating. Before he could utter a word, however, he +started back in confusion--for Felix had also stood still, and raised +his lantern so that his figure could be distinctly seen.</p> + +<p class="normal">Stephanopulos, bare-headed and wrapped in a shawl, stood before him, +presenting an appearance that was anything but imposing. However, +observing the sarcastic mien of the young baron, he soon succeeded in +recovering--outwardly, at least--his usual presence of mind.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You here!" he cried. "What an unexpected meeting! Really, if I hadn't +seen it with my own eyes--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Bon soir, mon cher!</i> Can I get quarters here, too?" interrupted +Felix. "Yes, you are right; it is I in person. And, for that matter, +though you are surprised to see me here in weather like this, which can +hardly be said to offer any great inducements for making country +excursions, it is really no more surprising than that I should find +<i>you</i>. We Northerners are accustomed to winter campaigns. But for one +who grew up at the foot of the Parthenon--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you--alone, or--is some one else--" stammered the unfortunate man.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Only a good friend of mine, who chanced to have business here, and who +will also be rejoiced to see you. Really now, without compliments, we +hardly had a right to expect this agreeable meeting so near the city. +Where are you going to, sir?" he suddenly raised his voice. "Back into +the house? I must earnestly request you to favor me with your company +for a short time outside here. Your sense of delicacy ought to teach +you that the business which occupies my friend within-doors there will +bear no witnesses but those most nearly concerned, and however much you +appear to consider yourself as one of the family--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let me alone!" cried the youth, in whose dark eyes an evil light began +to gleam. "Why do you stand in my way? What right have you to concern +yourself with my affairs?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear sir," said Felix, dropping the horses' bridles and stepping +close up to Stephanopulos, "before all things, don't scream so loud. In +your own interest, I advise you not to be too grandiloquent about this +affair. The person who is most directly concerned in it might resent +any remonstrance on your part less politely than I do. If you care at +all to get out of this ridiculous scrape in as respectable a manner as +possible--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take care!" cried the other. "You insult me! You shall give me +satisfaction for thinking me capable of such a piece of infamy! What! +desert an unfortunate woman, who has trusted herself to my protection, +in the presence of a man who has always abused her, and has sworn to +kill her if she ever comes into his sight again! Let me alone, I tell +you! I will--I must go back to the house! I must stand by her--I +must--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is very magnanimous of you to want to," interrupted Felix, coldly, +as he seized the other's arm with an iron grip. "But, in the mean +while, I will take care that you don't. I would propose to you to take +a walk in the neighboring wood, in order to cool off your hot blood a +little, until the husband has settled matters with his wife. If you +should interfere with him, I'm very much afraid he would shoot you +without taking any more time for reflection than you did yesterday when +you put an end to the poor dog. But I am sorry for you, my good fellow. +And for that reason, and also to preserve you for art and for further +adventures--"</p> + +<p class="normal">While saying these words he had been forcing Stephanopulos toward the +side where the stable was. There was a door standing open, apparently +leading up-stairs to the hay-loft.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In here!" he said, imperiously, suddenly letting go of the youth's arm +and sending him stumbling over the threshold.</p> + +<p class="normal">The Greek curse that rose to his lips was stifled by the furious +passion which blazed up in him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Help! help!" he shrieked, beside himself with maddening rage.</p> + +<p class="normal">But Felix shut the door upon him, quickly turned the key in the lock, +and went back to the horses. The prisoner could be heard raging on the +other side of the door; a moment afterward his face appeared at the +little barred window. A blow of his fist shivered the pane.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you don't open on the instant, you scoundrel--you blackguard--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I repeat my good advice," said Felix, stepping up close to the window. +"Behave yourself quietly and yield to force, unless you want to make +your position worse than it is already. What I have just done is for +your own good, and your imprisonment will hardly last longer than half +an hour. Afterward, of course, I will afford you all so-called +satisfaction, with pleasure--as soon my time will allow me."</p> + +<p class="normal">He lifted his hat a little, stuck the key in his pocket, and resumed +his hold of the horses' bridles.</p> + +<p class="normal">The coachman and the stable-boys, who had looked on at this singular +scene in open-mouthed surprise, were so taken aback by his manner, +that, without attempting to make any effort in behalf of the prisoner, +they officiously hastened to lend assistance in leading the horses into +the barn. Felix gave a few directions about how they were to be +treated, and threw a thaler to each of the men. Then he took the +lantern in his hand again, gave orders that no one should follow him, +and strode across the yard to join his friend.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">While this violent and yet almost ridiculous scene was enacted in the +court, Jansen had been mounting the dark stairs with a heavy foot and a +heavier breath. No sound of a human being was heard in the house; only +the roaring and crackling of the open fire in the kitchen below. Half +way up the stairs he stood still and listened; it seemed to him as if +he heard the voice of his child. But it was only the ringing in his +ears, as the blood seemed to surge and boil in his veins.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She will be asleep by this time," he said to himself. "So much the +better! She won't hear then what I have to say to her mother."</p> + +<p class="normal">He trembled all over. And yet he had no fear of this meeting, that was +to be the last. He was afraid of himself, of the dark, violent spirit +that made him clinch his fists and gnash his teeth. "Be quiet!" he said +to himself, "be quiet! She is not worth such fury!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He hastened up the last few steps and found himself in a long, dark +corridor. At one end a thin ray of light made its way through a +keyhole, and a broader gleam shone through the crack between the door +and the bent and warping threshold.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It must be there!" he said. He took off his hat, and passed his +hand through his wet hair. "Let us make an end of it!" said he, +unconsciously repeating over and over again the words "an end!--an +end--an end!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Then he stood before the door and listened. A voice which he did not +recognize was speaking; he stooped down and peeped in through the +keyhole. His eye lighted directly upon the face of an elderly woman who +was talking earnestly, but perfectly quietly. He recognized the old +singer, his wife's mother, whom he had always disliked even at the time +of his maddest infatuation. She sat in a corner of the sofa, and drank +now and then, in the short pauses she made, from a little silver cup +that stood by the side of a traveling-flask. At the same time she broke +up a biscuit and put the pieces in her mouth with an affected movement +of the hand, all the while displaying her false teeth to advantage. +Near her, sunk back in an arm-chair, lay her daughter; she was dressed +entirely in black, which became her white skin and deep blue eyes +charmingly. She was playing with a pair of scissors, making them flash +in the candle-light, and looked as wearied and indifferent to all about +her, as though she had just come home from the theatre where she been +acting in some tiresome piece with only tolerable success.</p> + +<p class="normal">Suddenly she sprang up with a loud shriek. The door had opened +noiselessly; and, instead of the young companion whom she had expected +to see enter, the very man stood before her, from whom she had fled to +this obscure hiding-place.</p> + +<p class="normal">The words died on her lips; even the old actress, who was not +ordinarily easily disconcerted, sat as if she were petrified; and only +her fingers, still convulsively crumbling up the biscuits, seemed to be +alive.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Leave the room; I have something to say to my wife!" Jansen said to +her in a low voice and without violence. "Do you hear what I say? Go +away this instant! but through this door, by which I entered."</p> + +<p class="normal">He wanted to prevent her from taking the child with her, for he took it +for granted that it had been put to bed in the adjoining room.</p> + +<p class="normal">The women exchanged a quick look. These few moments sufficed to restore +the younger one to self-possession.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must not leave me," she said. "In whatever I am to hear--since I +am conscious of my innocence--I need shun no witnesses, least of all my +own mother."</p> + +<p class="normal">And as she spoke she sank back again into the chair, and passed her +hand across her eyes, as though overcome by painful memories. The old +woman on the sofa did not move. They could only hear how she murmured +softly to herself: "Good God! Good God! What a scene! What a +catastrophe!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I repeat my demand!" the sculptor said with emphasis. "Will you wait +for me to take your arm and lead you out?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very good; I will go; I will not let matters be brought to the worst," +cried the mother, rising with a pathetic gesture. Then she bent down +over Lucie and whispered something in her ear. "No, no," hastily +answered the latter, "not a word to him. That would only make the +matter worse. Go, if it must be so. I am not afraid!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She spoke the last words aloud and facing toward Jansen, whom she +looked straight in the eyes without a trace of terror. Any stranger +would have been deceived by this air of conscious innocence.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old singer slammed the door behind her. They heard her, as she +passed down the corridor. But it did not escape Jansen's ears that she +crept back and remained standing outside the door to listen.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let her stay, for what I care!" he said to himself, "as long as I +needn't see her face." Then came again the feverish: "We must make an +end--an end--an end!" He took his stand before the stove, in which the +remains of a fire still glowed. With folded arms he stood gazing down +upon the woman who had been the curse of his life. In the midst of his +terrible anguish it flashed across him that not a feature of her face +gave evidence of the seven years that had passed since they had been +separated. She even appeared younger, more girlish and more +unsophisticated than when he had first known her. Nothing could be read +on those soft lips or on that clear forehead but a sort of curiosity, +an innocent wonder as to what was coming. Her soft, quiet hand had +taken up the scissors again, and was playfully opening and shutting +them.</p> + +<p class="normal">An almost unbearable thought, a crushing sense of shame suddenly rose +within him, as he realized that this mask had once deceived him; had +excited him to mad passion, and had flattered him into reposing in it +an undying faith--this smooth lie, this cold smile, that did not desert +her even now, when he whom she had so bitterly injured had to put forth +all his strength in order to pass through this hour manfully.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am here," said he at length, "to--to make an end of this. I hope you +will not make it more difficult for me than is necessary. I will not +ask you the reasons that have led you to act against our agreement, and +to cross my path again. You have a fondness for masquerading, and I +must let you indulge it as much as you like; all the more as I, for my +part, give you up utterly. I merely wish to warn you that if you ever +again feel a desire to approach me in any kind of disguise, take care +not to lose the mask. I could not bear to see your face again, and my +hot blood might play me false."</p> + +<p class="normal">She bent her eyes upon him with a perfectly unembarrassed look, as if +asking whether he was really serious when he said these words--whether +he really could not bear the sight of this gentle face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have no fear," she answered, softly, in an almost bashful tone. "I am +not coming again. I have seen all that I wanted to see. It was +certainly a pardonable curiosity that made me want to see what kind of +a face one must have to find favor in your eyes; and if I--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Silence!" he interrupted, imperiously. "You shall hear me to the +end--to the very end. If, as I hope, you are not unmindful of your own +interests, and will listen to reason, our last interview will end +peacefully, and I will give you my thanks for having brought it about. +I will then take my child away with me, and promise you that I will try +hard to think of you without anger."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The child?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The child that you have just stolen, that you wished to keep with you +in pawn, that you might carry out Heaven knows what miserable scheme."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are very much mistaken," she interposed, and a slight blush +mounted to her cheeks. "The child is not here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't attempt to deceive me!" he cried, with sudden fury. "I know you +have kidnapped the child--it is asleep in the next room--you fled to +this place to conceal your capture from me; to-morrow, early, you +intended to continue the flight."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are raving again!" she said calmly, and laid the scissors down on +the table. "Look yourself, and see whether the child is here with me. +There stands the lamp; search the house, if you do not believe me."</p> + +<p class="normal">He stretched out his hand mechanically, took the light, and opened the +door of the adjoining chamber. The beds that stood there were empty.</p> + +<p class="normal">With a threatening look he turned upon her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall I search the house room by room?" he asked, his voice trembling +with anger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It would be useless trouble. I swear to you, I did not bring the child +with me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Trickster!" he cried, setting the light down on the table with such +force that the flame was almost extinguished. "Only this once the +truth--only this once! Where is the child? What have you done with her? +In whose hands--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the best of hands," she interrupted, "under the very safest +protection, so help me God! I--it is true--I had an irresistible +longing to see my poor child once more, whom you have made motherless +and to whom you wish to give a mother who can have no heart for the +orphan. If it is a crime for the real mother not to wish to see her +child given to the false one, then I have committed such a crime. I +wanted to steal it for myself, to be a thief of that which is my own, +purchased with pain and lost with pain; but it happened differently--I +was not to have it, in punishment for not having defended my rights +more boldly. Oh! and this cruel, pitiless man, who has robbed me of +everything, even of this last short, desperate consolation--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her voice appeared to fail her. She covered her face with her white +hands, and was silent. But the time when she might have deceived him +was past.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where is the child?" he asked, after a short pause, stepping close up +to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">She did not remove her hands from before her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I sent it back to you. I saw that the innocent creature had been +brought up in hatred toward her mother, and that I could not hope to +win her young heart back to me again. What I felt--but enough! What do +you care for my sorrows? I pressed the child to my breast for the last +time, and then let her go from me forever. When you get home, you will +find her there. This is the truth. And if I had to die this moment I +could not say anything else."</p> + +<p class="normal">She drew herself up at these words; her eyes glistened with moisture, +her features assumed an expression of anxious emotion, and her gestures +were hasty and ungraceful.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well?" she queried. "Are you not yet satisfied? Have I something still +that your hate begrudges me, that you would like to tear from me? Take +it--take all I have--take even my miserable life, that you have spared +me until now, for I see what you are aiming at when you say you want to +put an end to this. Yes, an end to my woes, to my disappointed hopes, +to my happiness and my honor--an end to this wretched creature, that +wanders through the world like a leaf torn from a tree, finding rest +nowhere--nowhere until it sinks into the mud and rots there."</p> + +<p class="normal">She threw herself on the sofa, and burst into a flood of tears.</p> + +<p class="normal">He knew these tears. He knew that she possessed the art of moving +herself in order to move others. But still he felt a deep pity for this +unhappy nature, which could not even in its truest grief weep truly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Lucie," he said--it was the first time he had addressed her by her +name--"you are quite right, you are unhappy and I am partly to blame +for it. I ought to have been a wiser man, and never to have thought of +making you my wife. We are of different blood; you are in your element +when you are pretending to be something you are not. I--but why talk +about it? We know it all--we ought to have known it then; it would have +spared us much bitterness. And now, Lucie, you see I am not unjust; I +share the blame between us, just as I have borne my good half of the +misfortune. But shall it go on this way and make both of us wretched +all our lives? I have written all this to you. Why didn't you read my +letters better? We should now understand one another, and should be +able to conclude what still remains to be done in a more friendly +spirit."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your letters?" she said, suddenly drawing herself up and drying her +tears. "I read them only too well. I know that in and between the lines +there was but one thought: 'I will be free!--free at any price!' I +knew, too, who it was who dictated this thought to you; and now, since +I have made the personal acquaintance of this incomparable woman--no, +without sarcasm, which would be but childish defiance for one in my +situation--I understand perfectly that you would be willing to do +anything in order that you might throw yourself into such chains. But +to suppose that I, with my share of our common misfortune, as you call +it, will voluntarily step back and look on while you find happiness +according to your heart's desire--oh! you are excellent egotists, you +men!--but you should not be so <i>naïve</i> as to think it a crime if we, +too, sometimes think a little about ourselves!"</p> + +<p class="normal">His old aversion arose again as he listened to this well-calculated, +passionate speech. But he forced himself to be quiet.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have never tried to conceal from you," said he, "that I am now more +desirous than ever before for an absolute separation, because I wish to +enter into a new marriage. If you thought it was for your interest to +hinder this, if you wished to prevent me from ever again becoming a +happy man, then this would be comprehensible on your part, although it +would betray but little pride. But you ought to know me better. You +ought to know that I am terribly in earnest when I say my submission to +the fate that binds us together is at an end. I can--I <i>shall</i> never +consent to let the malicious defiance of a woman cheat myself and her +whom I love of our happiness in life. I am determined to do <i>anything</i> +which can set me free. Do you hear it? To do <i>anything</i>. And for that +reason I say to you: name your price! I know very well that your desire +to feel that I am in your power, and the triumph of seeing me drag a +piece of the chain after me is dear to you. But even dearer things have +their price. Name yours; I will buy off your hate and your malice, +though to do it I had to work like a day-laborer from morning until +late into the night."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't imagine that will be necessary. Your sweetheart is rich, I +hear. But you are mistaken. I am not covetous. Give me the child, and I +will never have known the father."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Woman!" he cried, his whole being lashed into fury by the trick which +he immediately detected--"You are--"</p> + +<p class="normal">But he controlled himself. He sank down a chair near the sofa, and +said, in a tone as if he were communicating something of the greatest +indifference to her:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very good. You remain untouched by words or prayers. But let me tell +you: I am as determined to set myself free as you can possibly be to +keep me forever in a state of wretched bondage. If you will consent to +a legal separation, you shall never have occasion to complain of me. I +will double what I have done for you heretofore; yes--I will guarantee +that you shall not lose this part enjoyment of my income even by any +second marriage you may be disposed to enter into. You smile and +pretend to be incredulous. Let us play an honest game. You are young +and beautiful; though I doubt whether you will ever find a man to whom +your heart will go forth. You may easily find a man who will seduce +your senses, and whose position will attract you, and then our account +would be at an end. If you resist this just compromise--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at him again with all her childish innocence, with that +smiling curiosity as though they had to do with a scene in a farce.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well--and then?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I will take every means in my power to ruin your life as you have +ruined mine. I will pursue you with my hate, no matter whither you may +flee, and dog your steps, do what you will to hinder! I know how you +live, and that you have neglected no chance to console yourself for the +loss of a husband. I have cast you out of my heart so entirely that I +did not feel the least shade of sorrow when you threw yourself away +upon whomsoever pleased you. But that shall be otherwise now. I will +put a spy on your track, whose only duty shall be to watch you every +step and movement, and to furnish me what I have hitherto lacked: +<i>proofs</i> that you are trampling my honor as well as my happiness under +foot. Then I will openly step before the world and tear the mask from +your smooth face. Then I will--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You would do better to spare yourself the trouble," she interrupted, +coldly. "Since you are so good as to warn me, you will easily +understand that, even admitting I should feel any desire to be +indiscreet, I should take care to guard myself against spies. So you +would only throw away your money without gaining anything by it. For +such weak proof of my guilt toward you as a glove, that very likely the +doctor left lying in my chamber, and that an intelligent dog--<i>à +propos</i>! I am really sorry that I was the innocent cause of the loss of +your friend, though that keen judge of human nature did show as +unconquerable an aversion toward me as his master. Some other end would +undoubtedly have been preferred by you. At the same time, little as my +wretched life may be worth to you, and easier as it would be for you to +find a second wife than a second dog--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Woman!" he shrieked, driven furious by her impudent irony in this +terrible hour. "Not another word, or--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Or?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at him defiantly, as she rose and folded her arms.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Or I will bring the matter to another end than you ever dreamed of, +and the carriage that you brought you here, you she-devil, laughing and +mocking at me with your pretty paramour, shall to-morrow--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He raised his fist as if he were about to let it fall like a hammer on +her head. She returned his gaze without moving an eyelash.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Murder me, if you have the heart to!" she said, coldly, with her lips +curled in scorn. "The comedy in which a dog has played such a splendid +<i>rôle</i> would then end most fittingly as a tragedy, which would be +better, at all events, than a wretched reconciliation. As truly as I am +innocent of your madness and fury, so truly do I say that a more +undeserved disgrace was never heaped upon a helpless creature; that +happiness, honor, and future were never more ruthlessly--"</p> + +<p class="normal">The door was thrown open. Felix, who had pushed back the listening +woman, thinking that the time had come to prevent an act of violence, +burst into the room and suddenly stood before the speaker. But scarcely +had she cast a look upon him than, with a shrill scream that went +through the very marrow of the men, she sank back, her arms as if +paralyzed by a sudden cramp, her features distorted, and in a state +that bore such unmistakable signs of truth that no thought of its being +some new deception was possible. Before Jansen had had time to collect +himself, the mother rushed in from the corridor and threw herself down +before her insensible daughter, who lay on the sofa with staring, +wide-open eyes, a vacant smile upon her lips, and hands hanging rigidly +at her side with the fingers spread wide apart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have killed her!" cried the old woman, trying to lift the body, +which had half fallen to the ground, on to the cushions. "Help--save +her--bring water, vinegar--anything you have--Lucie--my poor +Lucie--don't you hear me? It is I! My God! My God! Must it come to +this!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is a fainting-fit, nothing more!" Jansen's voice now broke in. "She +has had such fits before, especially after great exertion on the stage. +And to-day's scene--" his speech suddenly failed him. He had turned as +he spoke toward Felix, who stood in the middle of the room, his eyes +fixed immovably upon the figure of the insensible woman. It was as if +the lightning-bolt that had struck her had grazed him too. Not a limb +did he move, not a muscle stirred in his face; every drop of blood +seemed to have left his veins.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Felix! For God's sake what ails you? What is it? do you hear me, +Felix?" cried Jansen, grasping his arm and pressing it tight.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix made a vain attempt to master himself again. But he could +not withdraw his gaze from the woman, who lay there as if dead. +He merely nodded a few times, as if to give a sign of life, and +heaved a deep sigh. Then he said, bringing out each word separately: +"So--that--is--your wife!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Felix!" cried Jansen, in a tone which betrayed a terrible suspicion. +"Felix--speak--no--say nothing--come out--we--we are in the way here--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"So that--is--his wife!" repeated the other, as if talking to himself. +Suddenly he shook himself with a gesture of horror, broke loose from +his friend, and rushed out of the room with such terrible haste +as to cut off all chance for Jansen to detain him. They heard him, +immediately afterward, plunge down the stairs and fling the door to +behind him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Jansen hurried to the window and threw it open. "Felix," he shouted +after him--"one word--just a single word!"</p> + +<p class="normal">No sound came up from below. Only the wet snow drove in through the +open window, upon the head and breast of this sore-burdened man. He did +not notice it. He leaned against the window-sill to support himself, +and stood for perhaps ten minutes deaf and blind to all that went on +around him.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old singer was trying, with continual moaning and laments, to bring +her insensible daughter back to life. She had produced a little flask +of some strong essence from her traveling-bag, and was bathing the +young woman's colorless cheeks and temples with it. Jansen had turned +his eyes upon the group, but he did so as if he took no notice of what +was being done for the lifeless figure. Not until she had made a slight +movement with her hand, that immediately dropped back again upon the +cushion, did he seem to recollect himself. He stepped away from the +window without closing it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let the cold air come in," he said, in a low voice. "It is the best +way to bring her to herself again. Put some snow on her forehead; she +will open her eyes in a few moments. Tell her, then, that I have left +the house, and--that I shall leave her in peace. Goodnight!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her mother raised herself from her knees and sought to make some reply. +But when she saw his face she was silent, and merely nodded timidly and +servilely to all he said. She saw him go out of the room, and then +hastened again to the aid of her daughter, who was now breathing +heavily. She finally succeeded in raising her into a sitting position, +but the pale head fell back again on the arm of the sofa. Then she ran +to the window and brought a few handfuls of the snow that lay on the +sill outside. At length the insensible woman opened her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her first, half-vacant gaze wandered over the room. After a while she +became thoroughly aroused, and moved her lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where is he?" she murmured.</p> + +<p class="normal">Just at that moment they heard the hoof-beats of a horse galloping off.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you hear?" whispered the mother. "He is just riding away. He won't +come again--he told me to wish you good-night, and he would leave you +alone. Oh! these men--Oh! these men! Poor, poor Lucie!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The pale woman appeared even now not quite to understand. Her features +were still distorted in fear. She drew her mother nearer, and +whispered: "And the other--was it really he, or was it--his ghost?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you mean, child? Are you out of your head? But only keep +quiet--it's to be hoped we shall have a quiet night--oh! my God! What a +scene, what a catastrophe!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She seized the cup of wine, and drank it out. Lucie paid no attention +to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">A shudder passed over her. She closed her eyes anew. The convulsion +which had seized upon her now lapsed into a violent sobbing, which her +mother, who had seen her before in such a fit, allowed to take its +course without making any attempt to waste further words in +consolation.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">We must return to the morning of this day, in order to take up the +threads out of which the dark web of these events was spun.</p> + +<p class="normal">Julie, after having twice sought in vain for her friend at his studio, +had found it impossible, in the anxious state of her heart, to stay +quietly at home. She went to Irene's, for she had found Angelica, who +had not closed her eyes all night, sunk in a deep sleep. She felt +herself greatly drawn toward the Fräulein, though she had seen her +yesterday for the first time; all the more as Irene, too, was as little +able as all the others to withstand the charm of Julie's character, and +had attached herself to her with a warmth that appeared doubly great in +contrast to her usual coy reserve. It had not been long, thanks to the +freedom of the masquerade, before they stood on so familiar a footing +as to call each other "Du;" and the startling incident that drove +Jansen away from the ball so early had broken down the last trace of +reserve in the friendship between them. They had remained together for +a few hours longer. Julie, to whom Jansen had disclosed in a single +word the mystery of the strange mask, had made no secret of the matter +to her friends, among whom Irene was now counted.</p> + +<p class="normal">She herself, while taking the occurrence greatly to heart, saw at once +how much nearer the final crisis it had brought her. But the thought +that she must leave him to fight out alone the battle that could not be +avoided, was torture to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">She wanted at least to be near him, to know every hour what he was +doing, and, if it should be necessary, to be ready to restrain him from +taking any violent steps. His withdrawing from her--although she knew +that he had only done it to spare her--gave her great pain, and she +felt now as if she knew for the first time how much she loved him.</p> + +<p class="normal">In this mood she presented herself before Irene, who received her most +tenderly. Felix, who had taken occasion to call as early as possible in +the morning, had just taken his leave again, and the eyes and cheeks of +the girl still glowed with the happiness of their reunion. The two +friends had so much to confide to one another that they did not notice +how the hours slipped by, and were very much surprised when the uncle, +who, as a rule, never appeared before dinner-time, entered the room. +Irene introduced him to Julie, and would not listen to such a thing as +her going home to dinner.</p> + +<p class="normal">The baron seconded her in her hospitable entreaties in his usual +chivalrous manner; though he seemed not to be in as good spirits as was +usual when he found himself in the presence of a beautiful lady. During +the meal, also, he was noticeably depressed and preoccupied, keeping +remarkably silent for him, sighing a great deal, and complaining of old +age, which must overtake even the youngest uncles at last. Then again +he would try to laugh, or tell one of his old <i>bonmots</i>; but he soon +relapsed anew into a droll kind of melancholy, in which he railed at +the uncertain lot of humanity and the mysteries of an irresponsible +Providence.</p> + +<p class="normal">When, after dinner, Irene was called out of the room by a chance caller +whom she hoped quickly to get rid of, and the baron was left alone with +Julie, he suddenly appeared to have gone fairly crazy. He sprang up, +thrust his hands through his thin hair, plucked at his beard, took a +cigar--which he immediately laid down again--and finally drew up his +chair close to the sofa, where Julie was seated.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Fräulein Julie," he said, with a deep sigh, "you will think it +strange, but I can't help myself; will you hear me for ten minutes on a +very serious matter, and then give me your advice and, if possible, +your support?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at him in amazement, but nodded kindly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A terribly bad story," he continued; "though, for that matter, a story +that is not without a parallel in this imperfect world of ours, and +one that ought not, by good rights, to break the heart of an old +lion-hunter. But the worst of it is, it so happens that I can turn to +no one for advice and aid, except to a young lady whose delightful +acquaintance I made but an hour ago. Now, my honored Fräulein, if I +only knew of some married woman, or some respectable elderly lady, in +whom I had confidence--truly, I would spare you and myself the +embarrassment of having to talk to you about the old sins of my youth. +But in all this circle--all bachelors and single women--you will +understand, my dear Fräulein--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Speak out boldly, Herr Baron; I am thirty-one years old."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, my dear Fräulein, the baptismal certificate has nothing to do with +this question; and, although I have the greatest respect for you--you +are still far removed from the canonical age of a person inspiring +respect. But I have learned, through my brother-in-arms Schnetz, how +universally you are honored in Bohemia--pardon the expression, I mean +in the so-called society of Paradise--and that it only needs a word +from you to straighten out much more complicated affairs than this of +mine.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps you do not yet know--that is to say, you have undoubtedly +known for a long time--for your talented friends do not generally keep +secrets from one another--in short, I have a daughter--'Have her while +she is mine,' as Polonius says--a daughter, of whose existence I had no +suspicion until recently. Upon the discovery of my fathership I knocked +at my heart, and waited to hear whether the so-called voice of Nature +within would awaken. <i>Pas le mains du monde.</i> You will find this +inhuman. But remember that I did not lead a worse life in this good +town than was the fashion at that time, and that this adventure came +half-way to meet me--I wish to throw no shadow either upon the girl or +her parents--<i>enfin</i>, they were very cordial with me, and I, in return, +possibly went too far. A few years afterward, I felt something like a +gentle gnawing in my left side, where one is supposed to carry his +conscience. As it did not subside, I wrote to this place in order to +inquire, as a friend of the family, after the health of its different +members. The letter was returned by the post, as the address could not +be found.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, looked at from a strictly moral point of view, I ought not to +have felt, even after this, that I had justified myself. But what would +you have? My contact with the king of the desert had somewhat hardened +my skin, and the before-mentioned gnawing ceased. The girl had never +been exactly what you would call beautiful, but was very attractive +because of her freshness, her free nature, her merry laughter from a +mouth of magnificent teeth. You know complexions of that kind have +something especially dangerous about them for our weaker sex. To be +brief, she had, in spite of all this, completely passed out of my +memory until I saw her again to-day in her daughter--pardon, in our +daughter, I meant to say."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You sought out the girl? And how did the poor child receive you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As badly as ever a child could receive its long-lost father. You can +imagine, dear Fräulein, that it was no easy mission for me to fulfill. +A man cuts such a wretched figure in the character of the repentant +father, who, at the very first meeting with his grown-up daughter, is +obliged to beg her pardon for having totally forgotten her. But there +are sour apples into which one would rather bite than let himself be +bitten by his conscience. I assumed a fatherly, venerable mien, and, +when I entered the room where the girl was, and recognized in her her +dead mother--as if the resemblance had been stolen from a mirror--I can +assure you that at last the voice of Nature asserted itself. But +scarcely had I introduced myself, with the necessary delicacy, +to the unsuspecting child as one who had certain sacred, though +long-neglected, rights to her childish affection, when the strange +creature springs up like a little fury, and flies into the adjoining +room. Now I ask you, my dear Fräulein, is a father who wishes to make +good his faults a monster from whom one ought to run away? I stood +there as if rooted to the spot; and, as soon as I recovered from my +surprise, I did my best to conciliate my daughter through the bolted +door. I spoke the kindest words to her, and promised her anything in +the world if she would only be sensible and let me talk to her; and, +truly, I must have succeeded in the end--the voice of Nature must +finally have awakened even in her young bosom--when suddenly the old +gentleman--my <i>quasi</i> father-in-law--entered the room. Would you +believe it? this white-haired old man, instead of coming to my aid with +the wisdom of a grandfather, suddenly becomes as wild and unreasonable +as a youth, says the most incredible things to my very face, and while +I, out of respect for his gray hairs and lost in astonishment, am at a +loss what to answer, he takes me <i>sans façon</i> by the arm and leads me +to the door, which he slams after me like a clap of thunder."</p> + +<p class="normal">The energy with which he had related all this seemed suddenly to have +taken away his breath. He sprang up, threw open the window, and took a +few deep draughts of the cold winter air; then, burying his hands deep +in the pockets of his short coat, he walked slowly back to where Julie +was sitting.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must admit, my dear Fräulein," he said, "that this brutal +reception was well calculated to silence the voice of Nature once more. +This old--but no! He is right; if I had been in his place, and my +son-in-law had taken twenty years to make up his mind to stammer out +his <i>peccavi</i>, I should probably have been even less ceremonious, and +have simply kicked the fellow down-stairs, even if I had done nothing +worse to him. But still, as you can easily imagine, this encounter +rather shattered me."</p> + +<p class="normal">He threw himself into the chair again, sighed like a man in utter +desperation, and ran his hands through his hair.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And how can I help or advise you, Herr Baron?" asked Julie, after a +pause. "It seems to me there is nothing left for you to do but to write +to Herr Schoepf and to your daughter, and tell them by letter what they +would neither of them listen to in their first excitement."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pardon, my dear Fräulein, that wouldn't do much good. These two mad +beings would not treat my letters any better than they did their +author. And yet, you will understand that I cannot rest content when my +father-in-law and my daughter have turned me out-of-doors. I must atone +for my old crime so far as such a thing is possible at this late day. +For me, in my years and circumstances, to suddenly long for paternal +joys, to receive this girl into my bachelor's quarters, and to +introduce her to society as a young baroness--I, who have already had +such a hard time with one grown-up daughter, by whom I am forced to let +myself be ordered about--would be the height of the ridiculous: to say +nothing of the fact that I doubt very much whether I should ever be +able to tame this red-maned lioness. But, on the other hand, Father +Schoepf, as he now calls himself, is no longer one of the youngest men +in the world; and, aside from that, by no means a Crœsus. If the +child stays with him, who knows but what she, too, will fall into bad +hands, like her poor mother? And in case she should remain a good +girl--you know, my dear Fräulein, that virtue as a sole dowry is not +particularly in demand nowadays. I want, therefore, to secure for my +daughter--whether she acknowledges me or not--a respectable marriage +portion; not merely a dowry--it must be known that Fräulein Schoepf +possesses in her own right so and so much property. Now, you see, my +dear Fräulein, only such a soft and winning voice as yours can succeed +in persuading Father Schoepf to consent to such an arrangement, which +is so greatly for the interest of the child. Now, if I should send +Schnetz to him, he would, if he had to deal with a man, fire up about +his ridiculous manly honor, and the end of the story would be that +Schnetz would likewise be shown the door. But you, if you will only +consent--and why shouldn't you consent?--may even succeed in the end in +inspiring this wild creature, my own flesh and blood, with some +human emotion; so that she will feel for her papa, who really is no +monster--but stop! the visit in the next room is over. Not a word of +this to Irene. Promise me this. May I depend on you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He reached her both his hands across the table with such a true-hearted +and, at the same time, comically-crushed manner, that she did not +hesitate for a moment to close the bargain. In a second his mood seemed +to have gone through a complete transformation. He sprang up, bent over +her hand, which he eagerly kissed, and began to hum a tune and to light +a cigar, talking all the while about the masked ball of the night +before. His niece, when she entered again, laughingly asked what magic +charm her beautiful friend had been using in her absence, to dispel so +completely her dear uncle's melancholy mood.</p> + +<p class="normal">Julie smiled and answered that people ought not to laugh at the secrets +of magic, and the baron acted as though nothing at all had happened. +Then the two friends took leave of one another. Julie was anxious to +see Jansen again, whom she confidently hoped to find in his studio at +this hour. But on the stairs, to which the baron escorted her, she +whispered to him:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why don't you want to let Irene into the secret? Unless I am very much +mistaken, she already knows the first half; you owe it to her to tell +her the other half, which truly does you honor."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think so?" answered the baron. "Irene have a suspicion? Good +God, these young girls nowadays! One takes great credit to one's self +for the profound innocence and ignorance in which one has brought them +up, and they are wiser than we ourselves! Well, then, in Heaven's name! +one sour apple more; my teeth are yet on edge from the first one."</p> + +<p class="normal">He kissed Julie's hand once more and returned, sighing, to his niece.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Julie went slowly and thoughtfully down the stairs. The moment she was +alone, all in which she had just taken part sank into the background +before the one thought how it fared with her friend, how he had passed +the day, and what might have occurred between him and his wife, who +held his fate in her hands. She reproached herself for having let her +visit detain her so long. It is true he did not generally come until +evening. But what if he had sought her out earlier to-day?--what if he +had had some news to give her, or had needed her advice or consent? A +cold shudder passed over her at the dreadful thought!</p> + +<p class="normal">As if to make up for lost time, she hastened down the remaining steps. +But, upon reaching the landing of the first floor, she involuntarily +stopped. A very strange kind of music issued from one of the +neighboring doors. This was Nelida's <i>salon</i>; the waiter who had taken +her to Irene had told her so. The piano within, which only skillful +hands were generally allowed to touch, seemed to have fallen into the +hands of a maniac, who cared more for making noise than music, or who +was trying to test the instrument's power of resistance.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, rising above all this stormy <i>charivari</i> of the keys, what noise +was that? Did her ears deceive her, or did she really hear a child's +voice that pierced to her very heart? Greatly excited, she advanced a +few steps toward the nearest door; now she heard it more plainly--the +sobbing of a child, that ceased for a moment only to begin again +immediately afterward. Was it possible? Did she know that voice? She +approached her ear to the door and discovered that the crying child +must be in one of the side rooms, to which there was no separate +entrance from the corridor. A few seconds more and the last doubt +vanished. Without taking time for reflection, without knocking, she +opened the door and stepped into the narrow hall between Nelida's +<i>salon</i> and bedroom.</p> + +<p class="normal">The doors of both the adjoining rooms stood half open. In the <i>salon</i> +sat Stephanopulos before the piano, improvising like a madman with the +most utter disregard of harmony, for he had been his own teacher on the +piano. He did not notice Julie, but went on abusing the keys. It was +not clear whether he was doing this in order to drown the noise of the +crying, or to divert the distressed child's thoughts. For through the +other door Julie now unmistakably heard the sobbing of little Frances, +and the voice of a woman trying to soothe and comfort her. But before +she had time to enter, an elderly lady, in hat and shawl, appeared on +the threshold.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it you, Nanette?" cried the old singer. "Is the carriage ready? Are +the trunks strapped on? It's high time. The child--Good God!--what is +this? You here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Julie did not give her time to slam the door and bolt it. She hastily +pushed past the astonished woman, and entered the sleeping-chamber.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was received with a cry of fright. Before a table, on which were +piled all sorts of presents, flowers, cakes, and toys, as if for a +birthday celebration, stood the child, a big doll in one arm and a +paper of candy in the other, but weeping as bitterly all the while as +if these presents had been given her as a punishment. A woman, still +young but past her first youth, knelt on the carpet beside her, her +soft face bent down over the curly head of the child, apparently doing +all in her power to quiet the little creature. But now she sprang to +her feet and stared at Julie as if she had been a ghost.</p> + +<p class="normal">The countess lay stretched out on a sofa, in the back part of the room, +holding in her hand a newspaper, that fell into her lap when she +suddenly became aware of this unexpected caller, who was now standing +in the middle of the chamber.</p> + +<p class="normal">The next moment the child let everything it had in its arms fall on the +carpet, and, uttering a loud cry of joy, rushed into Julie's arms.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you come at last, my dear, beautiful mamma? What made you come so +late? I was so frightened here all alone! Are we really going now to +Auntie Angelica? Or will you take me to papa?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She clung fast to her protectress, who found it hard to quiet her. Her +little face was wet with tears, and she trembled in every limb.</p> + +<p class="normal">The countess raised herself upon her couch.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To what do I owe this honor, Fräulein?" she said, in a trembling +voice.</p> + +<p class="normal">Julie released herself from the child's arms, and looked the questioner +calmly in the face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I ought to excuse myself, countess," she said, "for coming here +unannounced. However, the manner in which I am received relieves me +from this formal courtesy. In passing by outside I heard a child +crying, and recognized to my amazement and alarm Frances's voice. Her +foster-mother and her father, who evidently do not know where the child +is, will be alarmed about her. Pardon me if I take my leave with as +little formality as I came. Come, Frances, let us go. What have you +done with your hat and little cloak?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She had had difficulty in uttering the first words, she was so agitated +by her indignation. But the sound of her own voice gave her back her +self-control. She felt herself, all at once, to be perfectly at ease +and a match for all hostility.</p> + +<p class="normal">The piano-playing had suddenly ceased, and in the room itself the +stillness of death ensued, broken only by little Frances, who ran to +the lounge where her wraps were lying.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young woman took a step toward Julie. Her face, but slightly +flushed, appeared quite composed, and neither hate nor fear spoke from +her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must introduce myself to you, Fräulein," she said, with her soft +voice. "I am Frau Lucie Jansen, the mother of this dear child. From +this you will understand--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that true, mamma Julie?" the child interrupted. "Is the woman +really papa's wife, as she says? But papa hasn't any wife; he had one +once, but she is dead this long time, and I haven't any other mother +but my good foster-mother and my beautiful mamma Julie. I don't want to +have any other mother, and I don't want any presents from her--I only +want to go away! You must take me away. I--I--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She began to cry again, dropped her little cloak, and running back to +Julie threw her arms round her neck and sobbed bitterly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be quiet, Frances dear," Julie whispered to her. "We will go away to +your father. You can ask him; he will tell you all that I can't +tell you here. Come, be a good child--be my brave, sensible little +Frances--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must confess that this is the most extraordinary proceeding I ever +heard of," said the countess, in a loud but perfectly indifferent +voice. "Such language from such a mouth--<i>une femme entretenue qui ne +rougit pas de vouloir enlever un enfant à la mère légitime</i>--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Countess," interrupted Julie, likewise raising her voice, "you said +that in French; that relieves me from the disagreeable necessity of +giving you the plain German answer that such an insult deserves--an +insult which you yourself know to be false. Besides, I haven't to do +with you, although you have permitted your rooms to be the theatre of +this intrigue. I merely have to reply to the mother that I have a right +to this child, a right that was voluntarily given me by its father, and +that I certainly regret having to make use of this right in opposition +to one who might have appealed to a holy right of Nature, had she not +of her own accord relinquished it. You wished to steal the child from +the father, and I, the betrothed of your former husband, fulfill only +my motherly duty when I resist such a robbery. Get ready, Frances; we +have nothing more to do here."</p> + +<p class="normal">The face of the young woman had grown deadly pale, her soft eyes +flashed fire, and she ground her little white teeth so that the sound +was plainly audible.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You allow yourself," she said, "to judge of circumstances you do not +understand, that have never been told you except in a one-sided and +distorted way. I have never renounced my natural right to call this +child mine; I have merely been obliged to yield for a time to force, +and I have always secretly hoped that time would come to my aid, that +the father of my darling would acknowledge the deep wrong he had done +me, and that the separation would tend to soften him. And who knows +that this would not have come about had you not stepped in between us? +Now, to be sure, that things have gone so far, there is no longer any +hope of settling the matter amicably. If I would have back what belongs +to me by sacred rights I was obliged to steal it as if it had been the +property of another; and how hard it will be for me to make it mine +again I have already discovered to my sorrow, for they have estranged +the heart of this poor, motherless creature from its most natural home. +Nevertheless, I will not cease to proclaim my right to the child and to +its father. Why do you stand in the way of a deeply-injured woman, a +robbed mother? Don't pretend you really care anything about becoming my +successor to the child, as you have become to the father. Skillfully as +you now play the <i>rôle</i> of the tender mother, in your heart you will be +grateful to me if I relieve you of this burdensome duty; and he too, +the most fickle of men--believe me, if he only had a reasonable pretext +before the world, he would console himself in your possession, and +would rejoice that I had been so good-natured as to have removed from +his sight, without his express consent, the remembrance of an old +guilt!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She made a movement as if to draw the child to her arms, but it only +clung the tighter to Julie.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take me away," it whispered to her, in a low voice. "Let us go +away--to dear papa--I don't want to go to that woman again."</p> + +<p class="normal">Julie stroked the little head, and pressed it to her side. She covered +the child's ears so thickly with its soft hair that not a word of all +this sad and bitter talk could reach its young soul.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you," she said, "you have drawn a thorn from my conscience by +these disclosures. 'Perhaps, after all, he did her an injustice,' I +said to myself. 'Perhaps he was too violent, too hasty; and even if she +has been guilty of a great sin toward him, is it not punishment enough +that the mother has been deprived of her child for so many years? And +can I answer for it to this child for having forever destroyed all +hopes of a reconciliation between her parents?' This often gave me some +misgivings; but I candidly confess to you, from this day forth my +conscience will be easy on that score. No matter what you may say in +order to palliate what you have done, you cannot have the only real +justification, a true and genuine love for your child; if you did, how +could you entertain the thought that I would be glad to get rid of her? +Such a thing could only be said and believed by a woman who let five +years pass away without once trying to see, at any cost, the child she +had borne; and who never even waited in the streets that she might have +a chance to press it to her heart and kiss it once again. Such a +thought could only be entertained by the woman who believed that the +father of this child was capable of sacrificing it to his new-born +happiness, and would look on with indifference while it pined and +languished for want of a true mother's love. And you reproach me for +having plighted my troth to this man who never belonged to you, for you +never understood him, and never knew his worth, his nobility, and his +greatness. You may do your best to destroy his happiness and to +undermine his peace by your petty acts; in <i>this</i> plot you have failed, +and, for the future, we shall take better care of ourselves and of the +child. You have given us warning!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She did not wait few an answer to these words, which she poured forth +in ever-increasing excitement. Before the women could collect their +thoughts and interfere she had seized little Frances's hat and cloak, +had put them on the child, and had borne her away in her arms.</p> + +<p class="normal">The moment she had gone, Stephanopulos entered the room with a nervous +laugh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Quelle femme!</i>" he said. "<i>Elle nous a joliment mis dedans.</i>"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Angelos," commanded the countess, "go after her! She is perfectly +capable of seating herself in the carriage that stands before the door +and riding home in it. We need the carriage. There is no time to lose."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, my dear countess, I don't understand. What is the use now?--and +you, madame--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He approached Lucie, who had sunk down on the lounge in speechless +stupor.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't be a child, Angelos!" said the countess, excitedly. "What is +there about it you don't understand? The game is lost! To be sure, if +it had only been played somewhat better--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What would you have?" retorted the young woman, in an irritated tone. +"Didn't we do everything you advised us? If it hadn't been for this +horrible incident, everything would have turned out well. I should have +carried off the child, and by doing so have proved to the world that I +knew myself to be innocent, that I would not quietly submit to +everything they chose to put upon me, and that I had the courage to +defend myself against the incredible insults--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Calm yourself, my good friend!" said Nelida, decisively. "Why should +we go on with a comedy that deludes no one? Enough, <i>le coup a manqué!</i> +We must take care that the recoil does not strike you. The journey +which you intended to take with the child you must take alone. Or, +don't you think that your husband will do all in his power to make you +suffer for the mere attempt, if he hears--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He will rage like a tiger!" cried Stephanopulos. "I once saw a little +specimen of his rage when a hostler whipped a cart-horse until the +animal fell to the ground. He sprang upon the man and would have torn +him in pieces if we had not interfered. The countess is right--you must +fly; of course I will accompany you, until you are in safety."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old singer, who had kept herself in the background during the whole +scene, now stepped forward and zealously joined in urging flight. Lucie +let her have her way without moving a finger.</p> + +<p class="normal">In ten minutes all was ready; the carriage rolled away from the house, +and Nelida dragged herself to the window and stood gazing after them.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young Greek leaned out of the carriage, and nodded a last farewell.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Bon voyage!</i>" said the solitary woman, carelessly returning the +salutation. "So this episode is played out, too! Poor creature--totally +without <i>élan</i> in good or bad. And yet I pity her. To have been the +wife of this man, and now to have sunk so low as to have to be glad +when an insignificant young-- And I?--what is the end of it all? To +grow old and ugly--always older and uglier--the last spark dies out, +and finally the heart is buried beneath the ashes of its own passions. +A hell on earth! I would give the rest of my life to be, just for a +single year, as beautiful as this Julie--to be so loved, and by <i>this +man!</i>"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Holding the delicate little figure clasped close to her breast, Julie +had hurriedly carried the child down the stairs. She felt as if she +were in an intoxication of indignation, contempt, defiance, and +triumph; her lips, which touched the child's locks, trembled, and her +heart beat so that she could hardly draw her breath. It was not until +she had reached the lower hall, and saw the eyes of the hotel people +fixed upon her, that she recovered her composure again, and letting +little Frances slide down on her feet she fastened on her hat and cloak +for her. The child had not spoken a word thus far. But now, when she +saw the traveling carriage standing packed and ready before the door, +she clung tight to Julie again, begging in a low voice that they should +hurry away. She seemed to fear that they would stop her even now, and +drive off with her in the carriage. Julie quieted her, ordered a drosky +to be called, and told the driver to drive home.</p> + +<p class="normal">They sat nestled close up to one another, and were silent. Once only +the child turned to her protectress and asked:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will she travel off without me now?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't think any more about it," Julie answered, kissing her on the +forehead. "You are with me now. Are you happy?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The child nodded and stroked Julie's hand. But one could see from her +eyes that her thoughts were still busy with what had passed.</p> + +<p class="normal">When they reached home Julie found a note, which Fridolin had brought, +containing a few lines from Jansen, written in pencil. He hoped he +should be able to see her before the day was over, and she mustn't feel +any anxiety about him. This made her very happy. She decided to let him +find his child with her, particularly as the weather was raw and it did +not seem advisable to put Frances, who was feverish from weeping, into +a damp drosky again. So she sent old Erich to the foster-mother, with a +note in which she asked permission to keep the little one with her +overnight. She wanted to do this, she said, in order to surprise the +father; and having dispatched the letter she enjoyed herself playing +with the child, whose affections she now felt as if she had thoroughly +won and deserved. She made a cup of chocolate, and looked on while it +eagerly drank it; for it had not touched the sweetmeats Lucie had given +it.</p> + +<p class="normal">She acknowledged such an evident interposition of friendly powers in +all that she had just passed through, and the good gods seemed to have +taken the part of her love and hopes so earnestly, that she had no +doubt but what the remaining difficulties would be also satisfactorily +solved.</p> + +<p class="normal">In this opinion she was shaken, though only for a moment, by the news +Frances's foster-mother brought. That good woman was still full of the +fright that had been caused by the supposed abduction of the child, and +had no sooner received Erich's message than she set out to convince +herself with her own eyes that at all events the worst had not +happened, and that little Frances was in safety. The excitement of the +last few hours, the self-reproach she felt, and the thought of the +consequences that might follow, had so worked upon her that, at the +sight of the child smiling a welcome to her, she burst into tears and +could with difficulty be quieted. As for the permission, she said she +no longer had any right whatsoever to give such a thing, now that it +appeared that the child had not been safe from such an invasion under +her own roof; and if the father should withdraw all his confidence from +her she felt she would have no right to complain.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let me have her just for this night," Julie begged. "I have a +presentiment that Jansen must return to-night, and then he will be so +rejoiced to find us together. After to-morrow, you shall once more +enjoy your mother's privileges without stint, until I take your place +with still better rights."</p> + +<p class="normal">But her presentiment deceived her.</p> + +<p class="normal">The child was put to bed early, and, with its head resting on Julie's +pillow, had long since dropped off to sleep in the midst of a loving +chat with its "beautiful mamma." Julie sat and listened to the storm, +starting to her feet every time she heard a man's step approach the +house. But the hours slipped by, and she remained alone. At last, about +midnight, she gave up all hope. She dismissed her old servant, +noiselessly undressed herself, and lay down on the bed by the side of +the sleeping child. It was long before she closed her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">When she awoke next morning her little bedfellow soon roused herself, +and was very much surprised not to find herself in her accustomed +place. The preceding day, with its adventures, only floated before her +like a confused dream. She had a strange dislike to asking Julie how it +had all come about, but allowed Julie to dress her, amid much petting +and caressing, and to carry her home. Julie herself was depressed, and +felt her confidence in the helping powers of fate much shaken. She +resigned little Frances to the foster-mother, and then immediately +started for the studio.</p> + +<p class="normal">The weather had cleared, and a warm though pale winter sun shone down +upon the streets, covered with a thin layer of snow. The long walk did +Julie good. When she finally reached the house, her cheeks were +glowing, her blood was quickened, and her spirits had recovered their +former confidence. She was, therefore, all the more alarmed to find +four well-known figures in the courtyard, all of whom greeted her with +a look of profound distress--Angelica, Rosenbusch, Kohle, and Fridolin, +the janitor. They were standing in a group, and appeared to be eagerly +discussing something, when Julie's sudden arrival frightened them +apart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What has happened?" she cried to them. "Has he returned? For God's +sake, what has happened?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear Fräulein," said Rosenbusch, who was the first to stammer out an +answer, "we know as little as you what has happened; but he has +returned, and last night too, and not very late either; he gave back +his horse to the stable-keeper himself; or, at all events, when I +inquired about it early this morning, the two animals stood in the +stalls, but the hostlers knew nothing of their riders. 'Well,' thought +I to myself, 'that affair passed off better than we had a right to +expect,' and hurried over here. But when I asked Fridolin, he knew +nothing except that the 'professor' must have returned, for he had not +been able to open the door of the studio; the key was inside, and he +had received no answer to his knocking. In the mean time, as the sun +rose quite high, I thought he certainly must have slept enough, and I +also knocked and gave him good-morning through the keyhole. No answer. +The marble-cutters, who wanted to get into the saints' studio, found +the door locked likewise; and after waiting for a time, they went away +again. As time went on I began to think there was something very odd +about it all. So I climbed up to the window on the garden side, and +looked into the ateliers--first into his own. Everything there was in +the best of order, only there was no trace of him. So I climbed down +again, and then up to the other window--well, in there things looked +oddly enough. Just picture it, Fräulein: all his worthy saints, with +the exception of the models which he had made himself, were smashed +into fragments; and what was worse than all, in the midst of all this +wreck I saw him--our poor friend--stretched out on the floor as if he +were lying on the softest mattress; don't be frightened, Fräulein, he +is alive and conscious, but so tired apparently that he cannot even +rouse himself enough to go into the other studio and lie down on the +sofa. For, upon my beating a most devilish reveille upon the closed +window and shouting out his name, he raised himself half up, made a +motion with his hand for me to leave him in peace, and then sank back +again on the heap of fragments, with nothing under his head but a +corner of his cloak."</p> + +<p class="normal">He broke off, as he saw Julie turn away hastily and hasten toward the +building. Angelica was about to follow, but she made a sign that she +wanted to go alone, and hurriedly entered the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">Inside, she listened for a moment at the door of the "saint-factory;" +as all was quiet she knocked with a trembling hand and called Jansen's +name. Immediately after the door opened, and he stood before her.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was wrapped in his cloak, his hair hung disheveled about his +temples, all the blood seemed to have left his face, and his eyes had +neither a wild nor a sad look; but their tired, wandering gaze pained +Julie more than the most passionate excitement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is you!" he said. "You are a little too early for me. I, as you +see--won't you come in? To be sure, it doesn't look very inviting +here--I have been clearing out a little, and because I did it in the +dark--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She had to exert all her strength in order to cast an apparently +composed look around the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What harm have these innocent figures done you?" she asked, closing +the door behind her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Innocent?--ha, ha! They only pretend to be so. In reality they all +have the devil in them, in spite of their saints' halo. Not a single +one of them is really innocent. I ought to know that best, for I made +them. And I tell you, the reflection from the snow outside made it +bright enough for me to see the lie grinning from these stupid faces. +So I made an end of it and smashed them all to bits--another lie wiped +out of the world. I have been doing things by halves long enough; the +other half always avenges itself. Now I feel better again, especially +since I have seen you."</p> + +<p class="normal">He pressed her hand: his voice sounded hoarse and strained; his eyes +were bloodshot. She had to forcibly keep down her tears, as she stepped +over the wreck upon the floor.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am glad that it all lies behind you now," she said. "I can feel with +you how it must pain you to make something in which your whole heart is +not interested. But come away from this destruction. We will make a +fire in the studio, and talk. Did you know that little Frances spent +the night with me? The darling child! It was hard for me to give her +back to the foster-mother. But then it won't be for long now."</p> + +<p class="normal">He made no answer, but submissively allowed himself to be led away +without raising his eyes from the ground. While she kindled the fire, +he sat on the sofa, his arms hanging down between his knees, and began +to hum a tune as if in accompaniment to the music made by the crackling +flames in the iron stove. He did not appear to notice that she had +again stepped to his side. It was not until she bent over, threw her +arms round his neck, and, with the tears streaming down her face, +kissed him again and again, that he became conscious of what was +passing; and, even then, he seemed to see everything as if through a +mist.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What are you crying for?" he asked, in surprise. "Am I not quite +cheerful and sensible? You, surely, are not afraid of me? Don't be +afraid, the worst is over. Last night, it is true, if any one had said +to me, 'Stamp with your foot on the ground and the whole world will +fall in ruins and bury you and all that is good and beautiful,' I +believe I would have done it. Well, those poor innocents there had to +bear the brunt of my fury; and now a little child might lead me by a +string."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Won't you tell me how it all happened?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What would be the use? It is vile. It's bad enough that two persons +know of it besides myself. Besides, it can't be changed. Don't you know +that you must never draw the iron out of the wound unless you want the +man to bleed to death? What time is it? Is it evening or morning? I +believe I am hungry. The animal in man is immortal, and outlives all +the nobler impulses. Pardon me for talking so. The words fall from my +lips; I cannot hold them back."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will go up to Angelica's room--she always has a little supply on +hand--or shall we go to my house?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No matter about it. I feel a disgust for all food. Hunger and disgust +at the same time--a fine outlook for life! But it's no wonder. When one +has nourished himself with something that appears perfectly innocent, +and suddenly discovers that it has been gathered from the vilest +refuse--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She seated herself beside him on the sofa, and laid her arm on his +shoulder; but he seemed to be quite unmoved by her touch, though +usually her slightest caress would fairly intoxicate him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must tell me all!" she whispered, stroking his rigid face, while +the tears rolled down her cheeks. "Are we not one? Is not your life +mine, just as everything I am and have belongs to you? And yet you +would keep something from me, because it might give me pain! I demand +my full half of your pain, or I shall begin to doubt whether I was ever +anything more to you than a living picture in which your eyes found +pleasure."</p> + +<p class="normal">He slowly shook his head. "I must make an end of that, too," he said, +as if to himself. "I must have done with this half-way work. But that +pains me more; and it is not the beautiful image that must be dashed to +pieces, but he who moulded it out of clay. Ha, ha! As if it did not +follow that everything which comes from the earth must go back to the +earth again. A fine thought that, a truly charming prospect--ha, ha!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Speak sensibly, dearest! Now I can't understand a word."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, then, to speak sensibly, I must go away--the sooner the better. +Do you understand what that means? I, myself--to tell the truth--I +don't quite understand it yet; but that comes from my weariness. As +soon as I have had a good sleep--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go away! And why go away? And where to?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why? You ask strange questions, dearest. As if we ever knew why we +live, why the sun shines on us today and to-morrow the storm rages. And +where it whirls us to--what matters it? Do you believe that any spot +will be dearer to me than another where I have to do without you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Without me? You are raving! O my God!--the--but I am crazy to let +myself be frightened by anything so--so impossible!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes!" he said, in a hollow voice, and with a bitter smile; +"impossible. So many things seem to us, until those two great +magicians, chance and crime, complete the trick, and make the +impossible only too actual. I candidly confess to you that, when my +sound reason leaves me for a moment, I also hear a voice within me +crying: 'It is impossible!' And yet it must be so--and we can do +nothing but kick our bleeding heels against the thorns of fate. What is +the matter with you all at once? You have let your arm fall from my +shoulder. Are you angry with me, poor woman, because I am a beaten man? +Say yourself what is there left for us to do but to renounce and +despair? Because I am so quiet with it all, do you think I have grown +cold overnight? But it is only, as I said, because all strength has +left me; even the strength to feel the deadliest pains. Let me sleep an +hour, and then you will be satisfied with the pitiable way in which my +heart will behave."</p> + +<p class="normal">He attempted to rise, but sank back again on his couch. Just at +this moment a knock was heard. They heard Angelica's voice on the +landing-place outside: "Only a word, Julie; I have something to give +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Julie arose, and opened the door. Immediately she returned to Jansen, +who sat there perfectly indifferent, bearing a letter in her hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is for you," she said. "It is Felix's handwriting. Will you open +it? I think you had better first go home with me and rest awhile, and +try to eat and sleep. You must have pretty well talked over everything +last night, so that it is hardly probable the letter can contain +anything new or important."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think so?" he said, in a peculiar tone. "Because we were +friends, I suppose you think that each of us must know all about the +other. Well, then, my poor darling, open the letter yourself, and you +will get at the tricks by which chance has made the impossible +possible. Read it, read it whatever it is, it can't tell me anything +more that is worth knowing!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Breathlessly, she tore open the envelope; and standing at the window, +leaning her trembling figure against the sill for support, she read the +following lines.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +<br> +<h3>FELIX TO JANSEN.</h3> + +<p class="normal">"We parted so strangely, yesterday. Under the first shock of the +blow I ran away as if I had been blind and mad. As if one could +escape the mockery of hell in one's own breast! When I realized this, +I turned back. I should have been glad to have surrendered myself to +you--unconditionally--that very night. But you had already ridden away, +and the others had chosen to leave the house and hurry off by the night +train. Thus I am left here undisturbed, to come to my senses, and to +write you a long letter--to which I can expect no answer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"After all, what could you say to me? For we are parted again--we are +separated, after all. And the case is so terribly clear, that it makes +all explanation and discussion superfluous. Why, then, should I waste +so much paper? and even go out of my way to give an explanation at +which one scarcely knows whether he ought to laugh or weep?</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I owe it to you--no, not to you; for, at bottom, I did not sin +against you but against myself; and my confession, about which you will +perhaps care little, is merely a relief to that self, which I hope you +will grant me for the sake of our old friendship. I will try to be as +brief as possible.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know how, just before my father died, I was sent to a +watering-place; and how I twice passed through the city where you +lived--the first time on my journey there, by way of Holland, where I +had business to attend to; and then again on my return, when I was +spurred on to the wildest haste by the news from home, and wanted to +spare us both a mere shake of the hand between the steamer and the +railroad, while in such a mood. In the interval between these two +visits, you had married and become a father. I looked forward to +becoming acquainted with your wife and child, but for that very reason +I put off our meeting until a brighter time, and passed through Hamburg +without suspecting----</p> + +<p class="normal">"Still, in spite of all my anxiety as to how I should find my father, a +painful recollection followed me. You know I had never been very +straitlaced in my way of life or my adventures, and scarcely ever had +paid for this frivolity even with remorse. I was always conscientious +toward the conscientious, and unscrupulous toward the unscrupulous. I +had never consciously or deliberately tried to disturb the peace of a +single soul, and was above the level of the conventional <i>bonnes +fortunes</i> one meets in his every-day path.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, not to make myself out better than I was, certain temptations +were always powerful with me simply because of their adventurousness; +and a decidedly insignificant Juliet might have seduced me into playing +the Romeo, if the rope-ladder to her balcony had been a particularly +breakneck one.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, just before I came to Heligoland, various matters had united to +put me in a bad humor; and, besides, my nerves were unstrung by wrong +medical treatment, feverish work, and night-watching; and I troubled +myself little more about the society of the resort than I did about the +mussels and sea-weed on the beach.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In an instant all this was changed. A stranger suddenly made her +appearance--a young woman--who soon became the puzzle and the talk of +the whole island. The stranger's list recorded her as Madame Jackson, +of Cherbourg. She was without an escort, had rented rooms in a fisher's +hut standing quite alone, and appeared to make it her chief aim to set +all male and female tongues in motion by the oddity of her behavior.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She appeared on the beach very early in the morning in a toilet that +awakened the envy of all the ladies. It was not the costliness of the +materials or of the ornaments, but the singular grace with which she +knew how to wear and move in the plainest shawls and veils. Then, +besides, her face could not fail to attract the notice of everybody, if +only by its unusual contrasts. Her hair had a reddish-gold color, that +literally shone in the sun when she let it fall freely down her +shoulders; two delicate dark eyebrows curved over the softest blue +eyes, that looked out upon the world as if they hadn't the slightest +suspicion of the stir they were causing. A little black point-lace veil +hung down over her forehead--however, I needn't describe her to you.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course, the women insisted that her golden hair was dyed, and her +eyebrows painted. Such a play of colors did not exist in Nature. But +the men did not find it the less charming on that account.</p> + +<p class="normal">"An old Englishman was the first who ventured to address her, as a +countrywoman of his. She replied in the best of English, but so +shortly, that this unsuccessful attempt frightened away all others of +the same kind.</p> + +<p class="normal">"However, she herself soon appeared to tire of the isolation which she +had maintained for the first few days. She made advances to a +Mecklenburg lady, who had accompanied her sick daughter to the +seashore, and, under the pretext of sympathy, she struck up an +acquaintance with her which she let drop again after a short time, +evidently because it bored her. As she also spoke German, though with +an English accent, several country noblemen from the Mark, who had +fallen dead in love with her, ventured to speak to her. She treated +them with cool condescension, and it was not long before a regular +court had gathered about her, in which several young people with whom I +had heretofore associated allowed themselves to be enrolled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"They told me about the moods and whims of their lady, who was made up +of ice and fire; of childish innocence and the most refined coquetry; +of sentiment and wild audacity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The English coldness, and the soft, dove-like smile, with which she +appeared in society, and the half-bored and half-ironical manner in +which she accepted the homage of her admirers, were merely a mask. When +she was alone with a person, an entirely different and much more +adventurous character made its appearance; a seductive, melancholy, and +yielding softness--which, however, changed at once into the harshest +coldness the moment he who had been encouraged by it began to grow +warmer, and attempted to seize the whole hand by means of the little +finger she held out to him. She would thrust back any such deluded +being into his place with the most cutting irony, and from that moment +would treat him with pitiless disfavor, without quite setting him free.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Several of my acquaintances had discovered this to their cost. They +gave me such minute accounts of their disgraceful defeats that I +recognized in this woman a type of those perfectly cold-blooded +coquettes who are--to the credit of the sex be it said--but rarely met +with. The aversion I had felt toward this sea-monster, from the very +first moment I had set eyes on her, was only the more confirmed by +this; but, at the same time, the thought sprang up in me that it might +be a good work, a meritorious act toward the whole male population of +the island, if I could succeed in catching this fisher of men in her +own net.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This purpose immediately became a fixed idea with me, actually as if +my own honor were staked on the result. As I knew that I was absolutely +proof against her charm, I proceeded to its execution without the +faintest scruples. She had long regarded my reserve with amazement and +anger; the consequence was that nothing was easier for me than to take +advantage of the first chance meeting I could bring about, to conquer a +place among her intimates.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will refrain from inflicting upon you, scene for scene, an account +of the wretched comedy that now began. The fact that I had to do with a +skillful opponent aroused my ambition, and stung into life all the +dormant obstinacy of my character, so that, at the end of a week--for +she, too, staked all her pride upon finally seeing me at her feet like +all the others--we two stood confronting each other almost alone; her +former circle of admirers had withdrawn discomfited.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The great aim of my tactics was to represent myself as thoroughly +<i>blasé</i> and unsusceptible, and to act as though I found the great charm +of my intercourse with her merely in the fact that I had at last +encountered a kindred nature, who, like me, had long since disclaimed, +as a ridiculous delusion, the possession of any warmth of feeling. She +accepted the <i>rôle</i> I assigned to her, but it never occurred to her for +a moment to cease trying to tempt me out of mine. Occasional human +emotions, into which I now and then allowed my calumniated heart +to be betrayed, gave her some right to hope; and the freedom of a +watering-place afforded a hundred opportunities for putting me to the +test.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, it turned out just as it could not help turning out. One evening +we came home from a stormy sailing excursion, which had not been +entirely free from danger, half wet through and hungry. The return trip +had been delayed from the fact of the skipper's having been obliged to +stop in the midst of the storm, to mend, as well as he could under the +circumstances, a leak in his boat; the consequence was it was late when +we reached her fisher's cottage. She herself seemed to have forgotten +her enforced <i>rôle</i> for the moment, and appeared to have no other end +in view than to refresh and warm me before dismissing me to my +lodgings. While she went into her chamber and put on some dry garments, +I was forced to stay in the front-room, which was itself little more +than a small bedroom, and exchange my coat--which had been soaked +through and through with the salt water--for a Turkish jacket she had +selected from her wardrobe; and soon, the tea steaming on the table, +the warmth of the fire--which was very grateful in spite of its being +early fall--and, above all, the extraordinary manner in which we were +dressed after the dangers we had escaped, threw us both into a reckless +and merry mood such as I had never before experienced in her presence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But even now I was still very far from feeling anything like love, not +even as much as I had sometimes felt in the most trivial of my +adventures. In the midst of my sportive chat with this woman I felt at +the bottom of my soul an unconquerable aversion toward her, indeed +something almost like a secret horror of her--as if a presentiment were +warning me who it was that sat opposite me. But a demon drove me on to +play to the end of the <i>rôle</i> I had once undertaken, for, as I +persuaded myself--mad fool that I was!--my <i>honor</i> was at stake! Never +was a victory more dearly bought, never did a man who thought to +triumph feel himself so lost and degraded in his own sight as I did in +that hellish hour. Had I strangled this woman in a fit of blind +passion, it would not have so degraded me as this impudent comedy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And the wretched woman felt that I could not, do what I would, carry +out the <i>rôle</i> of a favored lover;--the suspicion dawned upon her in +what light I must appear to myself and she to me. Horror, hate, and +resentment toward me, and perhaps also shame and self-reproach, +suddenly overpowered her with such force that she burst into a storm of +tears; and when I, in compassionate surprise, attempted to approach +her, she thrust me back with a violent gesture of disgust, and +immediately afterward fell into a fainting-fit that seemed almost like +death.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That night I passed probably the most painful hours of my life, in +awkward attempts to bring her back to consciousness. I did not dare to +call for assistance for fear of compromising her. When at last she +opened her eyes again I saw that the most forbearing thing I could do +would be to leave her without saying farewell.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I found no sleep that night. I cursed the hour in which I had seen +this woman, my childish defiance and my profligate obstinacy. In vain I +endeavored to comfort myself with the thought that I had pretended no +deep feeling toward her, that I had received no more from her than I +had returned. The feeling of abhorrence, disgust, and self-contempt +would not be reasoned away--and now to-day I am almost tempted to +believe there was something mysterious about the whole affair: an +indefinite horror of the guilt toward my dearest friend, with which I +had laden my soul.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The following day I staid at home and saw no one. Not because I was +afraid of meeting her again; for it never entered my thoughts that she +would take a step across her threshold, lest she should encounter my +gaze. In this respect, however, I found myself deceived. She actually +made her appearance on the beach, about noon, as beautiful and +unembarrassed as ever; they had asked her about me, and she had replied +that she had seen nothing of me since we landed the night before. +Perhaps I had caught a cold on the excursion!</p> + +<p class="normal">"'<i>Une femme est un diable!</i>'</p> + +<p class="normal">"But on the third day, when, after pondering on this profound saying, I +issued forth again, anxious to see whether she would maintain her +calmness in my presence too, I heard that she had gone away by the +first steamer that morning--no one knew whither.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This was my last day on the island. About noon I received the sad +message that called me home. With the evening boat I left the scene of +this vile farce, the bitter memory of which did not fade from my +thoughts for long years afterward.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is true the days of mourning that awaited me at home, and then soon +afterward the only true passion of my life, helped me to consign what +had happened to the dim realm of the past--until it rose up before me +this evening in all the horror of the present, and I was made to see +that the penance I supposed I had satisfied by my separation from Irene +was now demanded of me for the first time; and that the happiness of my +whole life was to be the price of a guilt which I thought I had long +since outlived.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For as to this open confession, which would be sufficient, if produced +before any court, to give you back the freedom you so long for--I know +you too well not to feel sure that you will never make use of it. +Therefore, you too will continue in chains, and I--how I should despise +myself if, with this hellish laughter of Nemesis ringing in my ears, I +should appear again before the dear girl I had so recently recovered, +and should offer myself as a fitting husband, while you and Julie were +obliged, by my guilt, to remain separated, at least before the world! +The fact that I have to suffer more than I sinned does not in the least +change the question.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It has always been the custom of Divine justice to make use of +different scales and different weights and measures, in exacting its +dues. The sin that one man is scarcely made to expiate by a +disagreeable hour costs another his own happiness and the happiness of +all those dear to him!</p> + +<p class="normal">"And now I have said all that I had to say. I shall refer Irene, to +whom I have merely sent a short note, to you, in case she should insist +upon learning the true reason why I am forced to leave her anew--and +this time forever--without looking on her face again. Perhaps if I did +I should not have the courage--and then I should be all the more +contemptible in your eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It won't be long now before morning. Then I will saddle my horse, ride +back to town, pack my trunks, and take good care that this letter does +not come into your hands until there is no longer any danger that your +magnanimity or your pity will attempt to restrain a man who can only +recover his self-respect in exile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Farewell!--I do not dare to call you by the old familiar name. But +since, from what I know of you, you will not cease, in spite of all +that has happened, to cherish a warm feeling toward me, let me say, in +conclusion, that you must not think of me as a despairing man who is +ready to throw away his ruined life too cheaply. The sweets of life +are, indeed, behind me; but much that is useful still lies open for me +to do, so that I may atone to all mankind for the old crime I committed +against an individual. Perhaps I may some time find out why it is that +fate should have chosen me, from all the rest, to be punished with +double measure for my sins. Felix."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Julie had long ago finished reading the letter, and still she stood +motionless at the window, while Jansen, his head sunk on his breast, +sat on the sofa in a state between waking and sleeping.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was not until the sheets slipped from her hand and fell at his feet +that he started from his stupor. But he did not pick them up.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What does he write?" He asked in a hollow voice.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Just what you thought he would," she answered. "You will hardly find +anything new in the letter, or at all events, anything that can alter +things. So you had better read it at some calmer hour, after you have +had a good sleep. In spite of all, I feel sure the letter will do you +good. It would have been impossible to write of an unworthy subject in +a more dignified way, and I, at least, have no worse opinion of our +friend since I have heard his sad story. I believe everything will yet +go well, and we needn't even lose our friend. He speaks, to be sure, of +his self-imposed exile, and has also written a farewell letter to +Irene, because he is of too chivalrous a nature to allow himself a +happiness of which he thinks he has deprived us."</p> + +<p class="normal">He raised his head and looked at her with a dazed, inquiring look in +his eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't understand a word!" he said.</p> + +<p class="normal">She bent over him, clasped her arms round his neck, and kissed him on +the forehead.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It isn't at all necessary you should understand me, dear one. Only +keep quiet and trust to your best friend. It is true, circumstances +treat us ill! but a true love and a little common-sense--oughtn't they +to come out triumphant over all the tricks of blind fortune? I am only +a woman; but it goes against my pride to submit so tamely and +helplessly, when life is at stake. For in our hearts, is not everything +pure between us two? And shall we not belong to one another merely +because all sorts of impurity and hostility work against us from +without? No, my dearest, we will not submit to this. Because we live in +an imperfect world, we will do our best to make it more perfect; at +least on that plot of earth on which our cot may stand."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke, but she smiled upon him so +tenderly that, for the first time in a long while, a sense of warmth +passed over the soul of this broken-hearted man.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you mean, dear?" he asked, looking at her in surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be still--not yet!" she whispered, as she brushed back his hair from +his forehead and kissed his eyes. "But if you love me, as you say, and +as I must believe you do or else I could not live, trust me and do just +what I ask. In the first place ride home and take some breakfast, at +which little Frances will keep you company. And then lie down and sleep +as well and as soundly as you possibly can. But I must wake you up +toward evening, for I shall expect to see you at my house punctually at +seven o'clock. If you will be very obedient and do all this, you shall +learn, as a reward, the plan I have formed to smooth over these wearing +troubles, and to make four good people happy. Until then don't try to +think what it can be, but rely upon your true love. Will you do this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She kissed him long and tenderly, while he stammered some confused +words. Then she led him out of the room. He cast a timid look toward +the door of his saint factory.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My child," he said, "I am ashamed of myself. You saw me there! Is it +possible you can love a madman?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am not a bit afraid," she smiled. "That wild spirit will never, even +in its darkest hour, shatter anything that is sacred to us both."</p> + +<p class="normal">When she saw the drosky roll away, she breathed more freely, and went +slowly into the house. She had given the friends, who waited +impatiently for news, a hint to withdraw and not to come in his way. +Kohle had gone with Rosenbusch into the latter's studio; Angelica sat +before her easel without touching a brush. Now, when Julie entered, she +rushed upon her in her violent way. "Well?" she cried. "But what is it? +you have been crying!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not for sorrow, dearest! Though there was room for that too. For much +that is bitter lies behind us, and how much more beautiful it all might +be! But the best is not lost--listen--I must tell you something."</p> + +<p class="normal">She stooped over and whispered something in her ear. A loud cry of joy +burst from the faithful soul. She blushed deeply from joyful surprise, +and the next minute she had her arms round Julie's neck, almost +suffocating her with kisses and caresses.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Foolish girl," said Julie, escaping from her at last. "What is the +matter? Didn't you always prophesy it would turn out this way in the +end? Now do me the favor to be as sensible as it is possible for an +artist to be. You must help me; without you--how would it be possible +for us to be ready by this evening? I want to tell you at once how I +have thought it all out!"</p> + +<p class="normal">They remained together for another half hour engaged in a most earnest +consultation, and then separated, after many tender embraces and +assurances of eternal friendship. The two men in the next room had only +heard through the wall the cry of joy, and then an unintelligible +whispering and murmuring; their impatience had been cruelly racked. +When, therefore, the door was heard to open, they too stepped out into +the entry with an air of quiet reproach.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Angelica will tell you all about it!" cried Julie, running quickly +down the stairs. "And I depend upon your both giving me the pleasure of +a call this evening. Don't be alarmed about Jansen. He is at home now, +and well taken care of--"</p> + +<p class="normal">With this she disappeared from their sight.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Fräulein Minna Engelken," said Rosenbusch, "will your at length +condescend to inform us what this tedious session, with closed doors +has to portend?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Only as much as it will be proper and necessary for you to know, Herr +von Rosebud!" replied the painter, who was so excited and preoccupied +that she had put on her hat wrong side before, and had not succeeded +much better with the rest of her street toilet. "The two gentlemen are +invited to take a cup of tea with Fräulein Julie this evening, and are +requested to convey this message to Herr von Schnetz, to Herr Elfinger, +and to Papa Schoepf also. You are to appear punctually at a quarter +before seven in full uniform, and with all your decorations. For +particulars, see small bills. And now I must beg to be excused--I +have such a host of commissions--and since the lords of creation +cannot possibly be made use of for anything outside of the arts and +sciences--I will say <i>au revoir!</i> until to-night, gentlemen!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She made a coquettish courtesy, hustled the astonished visitors out of +her studio without much ceremony, and flew, singing, down the stairs.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Julie had pursued her way with far more hesitation as soon as she +reached the street. She stood still more than once, as though she were +considering whether she should go on. In regard to Felix's letter to +Jansen--of whose contents Irene would have to be informed in order that +she might understand the flight of her lover--if she should send it to +her instead of delivering it herself, would not that be more +considerate? Would it not spare the poor girl the shame of looking in +the face a friend who knew of her lover's sins? And yet, on the other +hand, would it not be a last comfort to her to know that even those who +were most directly affected by it had not withdrawn their affection +from the deeply-penitent man, but would gladly have done anything to +convince him of the folly of his ideas in regard to his self-imposed +penance?</p> + +<p class="normal">She felt that she ought to tell her all this immediately, and by word +of mouth, hard as it would be for her.</p> + +<p class="normal">When she reached the hotel, the scenes of the preceding day rose up so +vividly before her that, fearful of meeting Nelida, she hurried up the +stairs without first making any inquiries at the office. Her anxiety +was superfluous. The countess had over-exerted her lame foot the day +before, and lay in bed in the greatest pain.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, upon arriving up-stairs, the baron came forward to meet her with +such a woe-begone face, that she was greatly frightened.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where is Irene?" she cried. "Sick?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope not," answered the old gentleman, grasping her hand, and +evidently breathing more freely, as if a guardian angel had at length +appeared to him. "At least, she was in such excellent health two hours +ago that, in spite of the bad weather, she suddenly made up her mind to +start off over the Brenner pass, accompanied only by her maid."</p> + +<p class="normal">"She has gone? Then I come too late!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Fräulein, you at all events come early enough to bring comfort +and aid to an old man. You see before you one who has had unexampled +ill-luck in his experience of paternal joys. My own daughter slams the +door in my face, and my other, my adopted daughter, who ought at least +to honor me as her educator and natural protector, runs away from me. +It comes all in a heap, to turn my hair gray before its time!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But why did you let her go? Why did you permit her--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Permit her! As if she asked for my permission! Just think of it, it +was <i>she</i>, on the contrary, who gave me permission to remain here a +while longer, in order that I might arrange my affairs 'in peace,' as +she expressed it, before following her--which, again, I am not to do +until I receive her express permission! Alas! my dear Fräulein, have I +remained a bachelor, and manfully withstood all the fascinations of +your sex, merely to be put under the control of two grown daughters in +my old age?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do tell me what reason Irene gave you for this sudden decision?" Julie +asked, after a pause.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are very good to suppose she would consider it worth while to give +me reasons!" cried the old gentleman. "Well-educated children are +accustomed to do whatever they feel like, and not to hand in a long +account to their foolish papas. That that rascal, Felix, is at the +bottom of it all--so much I have worked out by my talent for +combination. Last night she went to bed in the best of spirits, and +even condescended to give me a dutiful kiss, whose value I knew how to +appreciate because of its rarity. Early this morning, while I was +sitting here waiting for her to come to breakfast, a note arrived from +her <i>fiancé</i>. I send it in to her, not suspecting anything out of the +way, and a half hour passes before I discover what the trouble is. All +at once the door opens, and my Fräulein niece appears in complete +traveling-rig. 'Uncle,' she says--and her face is as pale and as set as +a wax doll's--'I am going to start off for Innsbruck by the next train. +I beg you not to ask the reason. You may be sure that I have considered +the matter maturely' (maturely! Only think of it, dear Fräulein, a +whole half hour!) 'and, as I know that you won't be able to tear +yourself away from here so quickly, I sha'n't think of asking you to +accompany me. It will be sufficient if Louisa goes with me. I shall +make my first stop in Riva. From there I will write to you when you are +to follow. I'--and at this point her voice grew a little unsteady--'I +want to be alone for a while. You may say good-by for me to such of my +acquaintances as you see fit. Be sure and remember me most particularly +to Fräulein Julie. <i>Adieu!</i>' I was, as you can imagine, somewhat taken +aback by this order of the day in true bulletin style. It was not until +she turned away, and I saw that she was really in earnest in what she +said, that I found enough breath to ask, 'But Felix! Does he know about +this? And what shall I tell him when he comes and no longer finds his +betrothed here?' 'He will not come,' she said. 'He--he is prevented. +You will find out all about it later. Now I must hurry, unless I want +to miss the train.' And with this, she was up and away! Oh, my dear +Fräulein! I, too, can cry out with the old cabinet-maker in a +blood-and-thunder piece they are playing here at the theatre: 'I no +longer understand this world!' Tell me yourself, is there a kreutzer's +worth of common-sense in this whole comedy? To say nothing of the +capricious Fräulein, there is the lover, who, only yesterday, swore by +all the stars in Heaven he was the happiest wretch who had ever been +pardoned with the rope already round his neck--he comes to a different +conclusion over night and 'is prevented!' Now, you associate with these +artists, Fräulein Julie. Tell me, do they learn diabolical tricks of +this kind in their so-called Paradise, and are they the result of their +celebrated joviality? If so, then my Kabyles and Arabs are the most +Philistine of Philistines compared with these gentlemen!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Julie had listened, full of sympathy, to this long outpouring of the +heart. Yet now she had to laugh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear Herr Baron," she said, "don't take the matter so to heart. I +think I am justified in assuring you that all will be cleared up and +come out right in the end. Whatever I can do to bring this about, I +shall naturally do with all my heart, since my own peace and happiness +depend upon knowing that the young couple are happy too. I hope soon to +be able to talk the matter over with your niece in person. In case you +should have any messages, I also start for the South to-morrow, and +shall most certainly go by the way of Riva."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You, too!" broke out the baron, springing up as if he had been struck +by lightning. "Now the world is coming to an end! That was the only +thing lacking. No, tell me you are only joking! What is it that drives +you off as if you, too, had been stung by a scorpion? And, besides, you +made me a promise in regard to my child--or, perhaps, she goes too, now +that all Paradise is being loaded on a cart, and Bohemia retreats +through the deepest snow to the land of sunshine?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You make me laugh, dear baron, although I am truly in no mood for +laughter. I repeat, only have patience for a little while. I can't tell +you about it to-day. I hope to be able to put your mind at rest about +your daughter before I start. You will receive a few lines from me +tomorrow, and at the same time a letter to Irene's <i>fiancé</i>, whose +address I don't know--for, the truth is, he has gone away because of an +affair in which his honor is at stake. Promise me, as a reward for what +I am going to do as your mediator with Herr Schoepf, to see that this +letter reaches Baron Felix's hands safely, at all costs. They must know +something about his whereabouts on his estates, and, if the worst comes +to the worst, we shall have to seek for him through the newspapers."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now I have it!" cried the baron, eagerly; "an affair of honor--a +<i>rencontre</i>--and that is why the girl was so beside herself that she +could not bear even my vicinity. Well, if that's the case, I don't feel +troubled. The boy has a sure hand, and won't be such a fool as to let +himself be shot dead now that he is engaged to be married. But only +tell me--<i>centre qui?</i>--overnight in this way--and all the while with +good comrades of his, and peaceable disciples of art to boot!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Julie considered it her wisest course to make no other reply than a nod +of the head to this conjecture, which evidently completely allayed the +old gentleman's fears. He grew very jolly again, kissed her hand +repeatedly, and only begged her at parting to do her best to help him +fulfill his paternal duties.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tell the defiant little red-head," he cried after her, as she was +going down-stairs, "that I haven't the slightest desire to force my +tenderness upon her in person. We can get accustomed to one another by +letter, and familiarize ourselves with the thought that we have found +one another again. Life in Germany is too full of adventures for me. I +am going back to my quiet desert; and to you, my beautiful friend, I +will send the skin of the first lion I kill, as a reward for your +endeavors to help a father to a daughter who doesn't want to have +anything to do with him!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Jansen had gone home as if in a dream; and even the wild demonstrations +of joy with which he was received by his child did not succeed in +driving away the stupor that hung over him. He did not ask either +Frances or her foster-mother what had happened in his absence, but +stared vacantly, sighed often, and returned confused answers. When he +had eaten something, and drunk some strong wine, he fell asleep while +sitting at table, with difficulty roused himself sufficiently to tumble +into bed, and had just sense enough left to impress upon the woman the +fact that he must be waked at six o'clock.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then, when the evening came, little Frances only succeeded, after much +shouting and shaking, in dispelling his leaden sleep; from which, +however, the weary man awoke with joyous eyes. He lay for a while and +enjoyed the physical relief, the peace in his heart, which he had +missed so long. Every word his beloved had said to him that morning +came back to his mind again; he knew that with all her kind words she +could have meant but one thing; and yet he trembled at the thought that +it might all have been a delusion. But the certainty of happiness +invariably kept the upper hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">When, at length, he arose, he felt as if he had recovered from an +illness--as if he were invigorated by fresh blood--and he marveled at +this transformation; for he remembered that on this very morning he +would have liked best to burrow his way into the earth and never see +the sun again. He kissed his little daughter again and again, pressed +the old woman's hand--the foster-mother was absent--and started off for +Julie's lodgings.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, when he arrived at the house, he was surprised to see a bright +light streaming through the blinds of all five windows. He knew that +she was fond of having her room bright, but for all that it struck him +that all was not as usual. He asked the old servant, who helped him to +take off his overcoat in the hall, but received no definite answer; +and he was painfully surprised when he opened the door and saw the +brightly-lighted room full of people.</p> + +<p class="normal">It is true, they were all familiar faces. Angelica sat on a sofa by the +side of old Schoepf, Rossel had established himself in the most +comfortable of the two armchairs, and Rosenbusch and Kohle appeared to +be absorbed in the contemplation of some engravings on the wall, while +Julie was conversing with Schnetz and Elfinger near the door. A covered +table, decorated with beautiful bouquets, stood along the wall on the +side where the windows were, and little Frances's foster-mother was +busy adding the last finishing touches to it. They were all in evening +dress, and even Rosenbusch had refrained from wearing his historical +velvet-jacket, which the summer had dealt with pretty severely, and +appeared in a magnificent dress-coat--the only trouble with which was +that it was rather too broad, inasmuch as it had been taken from +Rossel's wardrobe. But the most beautiful of all, in her simplicity, +appeared the mistress of these halls herself. She wore a white dress of +the finest woolen, which exposed but a little of her white shoulders +and her arms as far as the elbow. A plain gold chain, from which hung a +medallion containing a miniature of her mother, was wound several times +about her neck; her hair was brushed back smoothly, and intertwined +with a garland of myrtle; in her bosom was fastened a dark-red +pomegranate blossom.</p> + +<p class="normal">In his first surprise Jansen started back from the threshold with a +look of bitter disappointment, which Julie alone understood. But, +before he had time to recover his presence of mind, he felt himself +seized by the gentlest hands, and disarmed by a single soft word +whispered in his ear.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here he comes at last," she said, leading the speechless man into the +centre of the room. "And first of all I must beg his pardon for not +having told him beforehand whom he would find here. For even though +they are only our best and dearest friends whom I have invited to our +farewell gathering--still, I know you would have preferred to see no +one this evening but myself. And yet, though I would gladly do anything +else for your sake--I could not do otherwise than what I have done on +this occasion. Our friends all know that I am determined to share my +life with you until death parts us. Do you not feel with me that it +would be contrary to my honor and my womanly pride, to pass +clandestinely into the new life that has been opened to us, as if we +had committed a sin, instead of entering upon it with open brow, +followed by the congratulations of our dearest friends, as other happy +bridal couples do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She stopped, for a moment, overcome by her emotion. But, as he made no +movement, except to raise to his lips the hand with which she held his, +she recovered her courage, and continued in a lower voice:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Our rôles are so singularly transposed. It is customary for the voice +of the bride to be heard only when she says 'yes' at the foot of the +altar. But here there is no altar, and the bride must pronounce the +wedding address herself. I confess that, since I plighted my heart and +my troth to my beloved friend, I have always cherished the hope that +things would turn out differently. I thought it would be so beautiful +to go up to the altar with him, as other brides do; and have our union +so sanctioned. But, since this could not be, what right have we to be +so cowardly and narrow-minded as to cling to a mere form when two human +lives are at stake? As soon as I saw that it was to decide the weal or +woe of his life and of his art, every scruple left me. We are neither +of us so young or so inexperienced as to be deceived about our hearts. +They are indissolubly bound together. And it is therefore no crime and +no presumption, but something that was as certainly decreed by Heaven +as was ever union between two human beings, for me to be from this day +forth the true wife of this man, and for him to be forever my beloved +husband."</p> + +<p class="normal">She turned away for a moment; her voice failed her. A breathless +silence reigned. The gentlemen, with the exception of the bridegroom, +who gazed fixedly in his beloved's eyes, lowered their eyes and stood +solemn and still as if in a house of worship; the little foster-mother +held her handkerchief before her eyes, and the big tear-drops rolled +down Angelica's face, while she struggled to look at her friend as +cheerfully and encouragingly as possible. Now, when the latter turned +to her, she hastily took up a little silver dish she had held in +readiness and handed it to Julie, trying, as she did so, to give her +friend's hand a stolen pressure. Two little gold rings, looking rubbed +and thin, as if they had been worn a long time, lay in the plate.</p> + +<p class="normal">"These are the wedding rings of my parents," said the bride. "For many +long years they served as the sign of a union that grew ever firmer in +good and in bad fortune. I think you will not oppose me, dearest, if I +use them to sanctify our marriage. I herewith give you this ring that +my father received from my mother, and swear to you, before these +friends of ours, to be a true wife to you and a good mother to your +child. And if you do not repent of having offered me your life--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She could not finish. In a sudden overflow of feeling he seized the +other ring, thrust it at random on one of her fingers, and folded the +blushing girl in a passionate embrace. It seemed as if he would never +let her go again; his breast heaved with suppressed sobbing, he hid his +face upon her neck, and her soft locks dried the tears he was ashamed +to show.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the mean while it appeared that none of the witnesses took the +slightest notice of this passionate outburst. Rossel seemed to be +earnestly studying the pattern of the carpet; old Schoepf took out his +handkerchief and polished his spectacles; Elfinger stood at the piano, +with his back toward the newly-married couple, and slowly turned over +the pages of a music-book. Angelica fell upon the foster-mother's neck, +while Kohle seized Rosenbusch's hand and shook it warmly.</p> + +<p class="normal">At length when the bride had somewhat recovered her composure and had +gently released herself from her husband's arms, Schnetz, who up to +this time had been violently plucking at his imperial, advanced toward +the couple and stammered out a few words of cordial felicitation. This +gave the signal for a general crowding around, and the most joyful +handshaking and congratulation. All spoke at the same time, each held +the hand of the bride and bridegroom as tightly as if he hoped never to +have to release it again, and every one seemed to want to repudiate, as +something very superfluous and out of place, the emotion which had +moved all their hearts but a few minutes before. Angelica was the first +to restore quiet and order to this confusion, by rapping on a glass and +requesting the guests to come to supper. The bridal couple were to +start on their wedding journey in a few hours, and, as the bridegroom +had not even packed his trunk yet, it was doubly advisable for them not +to let the wedding feast grow cold.</p> + +<p class="normal">So they took their places. Old Schoepf was given the seat of honor on +the other side of the bride, Rosenbusch captured a place next to +Angelica, and Rossel took charge of the foster-mother, although, as a +general thing, he studiously avoided having any women near him when at +table. Of the meal itself it will only be necessary to say that Edward +Rossel had placed his own cook at Angelica's disposal, and had sent his +servants along with her; the selection and the cooling of the wine had +also been his care, although, except himself, scarcely any one of the +guests took much notice of what they ate and drank. Those in particular +who sat opposite the bridal couple seemed to be so fascinated by the +sight of their happiness, by the beauty of Julie, and the dreamy look +of inspiration in Jansen's face, that they looked very little at their +plates. To this number belonged Angelica, whose hand wandered across +the table every now and then to meet that of her adored friend under +the shadow of the huge bouquet.</p> + +<p class="normal">Julie's plan was to carry her husband off to Italy, there to look for +some spot on which to settle down and found their home. When they had +made up their minds whether Florence, or Rome, or Venice was to be +their resting-place, they were to return and get little Frances, who +would have been rather out of place in this wintry wedding-journey of +her parents.</p> + +<p class="normal">Meanwhile Julie had taken advantage of a favorable opportunity to enter +into a low conversation with old Schoepf in regard to the future of his +grandchild. In spite of the power she exerted over all with whom she +came in contact, she did not find it easy to break down the old man's +obstinacy. Finding that all her assertions of how sincere the baron's +remorse was were of as little avail as her efforts to convince him of +the material benefit which the reconciliation would be to his +grandchild's future, she finally summoned cunning to her aid, and +represented that in granting this request he would be conferring a +personal favor upon her, a sort of wedding-present, which such an old +friend of her husband surely could not refuse her. The chivalrous old +man could resist no longer, and so, with a solemn shake of the hand, +Julie secured all that the baron could demand with any kind of justice, +although a complete reconciliation still seemed quite unattainable for +the present.</p> + +<p class="normal">Jansen had been listening to this conversation, which had been carried +on in a low tone; and now he, in his turn, thanked the old man by a +pressure of the hand. All this time he had scarcely uttered a word. His +heart was full of a bliss too deep for words; the cheerful noise of the +good people about him sounded in his ears as if it came from a great +distance; his eyes rested on the flowers before his plate, and did not +even venture to gaze at the noble woman who was really his own at last; +and it was only with difficulty that he could force himself even to +smile when the others burst into roars of laughter over some joke of +the lieutenant's, or some enthusiastic expression of Angelica's.</p> + +<p class="normal">As they sat thus, there suddenly burst forth from Julie's piano, at +which Elfinger was seated, the first bars of the wedding-march in the +"Midsummer Night's Dream." On the instant all voices were hushed, and +they stood listening to the fairy strains that made them forget, for +the moment, that the winter night with its thousand glittering stars +looked in upon them, and suffered no other elfin tricks than those +which possibly lurked concealed in the foam of the champagne glasses.</p> + +<p class="normal">When it came to an end the silence still continued for a while. The +bride had disappeared with Angelica into the next room, and now +returned again in traveling-dress. Schnetz now called upon Rosenbusch +to let the departing couple take some of his verses with them as a +farewell blessing on their journey. But he, who was generally so +obliging, could not be induced to do this at any price. He would only +promise to forward them his bad rhymes in black and white, accompanied +with marginal illustrations.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is late," said Julie, "and we have still to take leave of our +child. We leave her in the best of care, and hope soon to see her +again. And now we must say good-by."</p> + +<p class="normal">She first embraced the foster-mother and kissed her warmly. Then she +gave her hand and a kind word and look to each of the others in turn, +and hastened out of the room, no longer able to control her emotion. +Jansen, too, had parted from his friends with great feeling, entreating +them all not to follow him beyond the door. Angelica alone insisted +upon accompanying the couple as far as the carriage. The others stepped +to the window and watched them get in, together with old Erich, who was +to accompany them, while Angelica still stood on the carriage step +unable to tear herself from Julie's neck. When she at last stepped +down, and the door was slammed to, those in the house stepped to the +wide-opened window, with full glasses and burning lamps and candles, +and shouted a loud "good luck!" to the departing couple. The waving of +a handkerchief and of hands from the carriage doors answered them; and +the drosky rolled away.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><i>BOOK VII</i>.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">All of a sudden Paradise had become very desolate. In the rooms that +had once resounded with conversation and laughter until long after +midnight, there now assembled a mere handful of rather morose and +chilly comrades, who did not thaw out even over their wine. They sat +behind their glasses, silent and disconsolate, each one expecting of +the other that he would suddenly break out again in the old festal +mood. For, in spite of the great necessity for social intercourse that +is inherent in the German character, nothing is more remarkable than +the rarity of true social talent, and still more the lack of that +social sense of duty which urges the individual to do all in his power +to contribute to the general entertainment. Most Germans go into +society just as they go to the theatre, and believe they have done all +that duty requires of them when, from their seats, they have made +careful observations of the actors; and they think themselves justified +in complaining of being bored whenever the latter are in a bad mood for +acting. This unmistakable decline, which generally takes place in every +club soon after it has reached its highest prosperity, was still +further hastened, in the case of the Paradise society, by outward +circumstances. In Jansen's departure it had lost the one member whose +mere presence gave it its distinctive character. The very fact that he +had no desire to rule had led them to give him, without opposition, +that leadership for which he was qualified before all others by his +superiority, mature judgment, and simplicity of bearing. Still, there +were several among his friends who might have succeeded in upholding +the old traditions after his departure, had it not happened that the +very ones who were best fitted and most influential had themselves +personal reasons for withdrawing.</p> + +<p class="normal">Since the recovery of his grandchild it was impossible to induce old +Schoepf to pass an evening away from home. He devoted himself entirely +to taming his little refractory savage--a task in which he was obliged +to work very carefully, for the strange creature still threatened to +run away if they tried to restrict her freedom in the slightest degree. +She would not submit for a moment to any regular course of instruction, +but thought she did quite enough if she took charge of household +matters, for which she showed great aptitude, and attended to her +toilet or took a walk with her grandfather in her spare hours. She +never asked after his friends, Jansen and Schnetz, not even after +Felix, who had disappeared so suddenly. Her face had grown rather +prettier from good living and comfortable surroundings, and her figure +fuller; and she could now gratify her taste for dress, for her +grandfather treated her like a pet doll. It was no wonder, therefore, +that Rossel only grew more confirmed in his passion, particularly as he +made it a rule to see her daily.</p> + +<p class="normal">He came in the evening, generally bringing with him Kohle, who had been +the greatest sufferer by Jansen's departure. The two gradually became +so accustomed to the old man's parlor that they willingly gave up the +nights at the Paradise club for its sake. Usually, after they had +talked awhile, or had looked over some photographs or engravings, +Rossel drew a book from his pocket, either a volume of poems or +something else that was interesting at once to children and sages, and +began to read aloud; apparently without giving a thought to the girl, +who took pains to move about as much as possible, as if to show that +both he and his companion were utterly indifferent to her. Sometimes, +however, when he chanced to strike the right key, she would crouch down +on her little chair near the stove, and listen with open mouth and +wide-open eyes in which the light of intelligence was slowly beginning +to dawn. But she never allowed herself to be drawn into a conversation +about what had been read, and never varied in her manner toward her +admirer, so that he perceptibly grew thin with disappointment.</p> + +<p class="normal">This same conduct, so singularly made up of frivolity and persistency, +she maintained toward her own father. After old Schoepf had consented +to allow the baron to exercise at least the outward rights of a father, +an interview had taken place between the two; and the sincere +melancholy of the baron, who was usually such a lighthearted cavalier, +had not failed to make an impression upon the grim old man. As the +latter felt that he could not acquit himself of all blame in the +affair, they had arrived at an understanding which, though not exactly +cordial, was nevertheless very different from the frosty relations that +had previously existed between them; and arrangements had been made for +the daughter's benefit in accordance with the baron's wishes. During +the half hour which she consented to give, at her grandfather's +request, to an interview between her and the author of her being, she +sat at her papa's side as cold and stiff as possible, and almost as if +she were giving an audience; while he exhausted his amiability in +attempts to touch her heart. She did not feel the slightest affection +for him, she declared over and over again. Before she saw him she hated +him; now she felt absolutely indifferent toward him, and she could not +understand how her dead mother could ever have loved him. He must not +flatter himself that she would ever feel differently. She had never +been able to bear faces like his; she was sorry, but it was always her +way to speak the truth, and because he had lied to her mother was no +reason why she should now lie to him. Let him keep his money. She had +no intention of marrying; and even if she had she would not accept a +man who took her merely because she had a rich father.</p> + +<p class="normal">That the beautiful Fräulein was her cousin did indeed seem strange to +her. At first she laughed at the idea, as if it were all a joke; then +she blushed crimson, no one knew why, stood up suddenly, made her +father a stiff courtesy, and hurried out of the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">With a sigh the baron left the old man's lodgings, to go and give his +old companion-in-arms, Schnetz, an account of this unsuccessful attempt +at reconciliation.</p> + +<p class="normal">Ever since the wedding evening the lieutenant, too, had felt himself in +a misanthropic and depressed state of mind, which kept him at home for +months and made him forget Paradise utterly; all the more readily +because it seemed to him that Jansen's presence there was necessary to +its very existence. His artistic talent was, after all, merely the +shadow cast by his character when it chanced to stand in a humorous +light. He had taken up with the artists because their society seemed to +him more tolerable than any other that came within the great dreariness +of his ordinary life, less because they created beautiful works than +because they were men who were capable of producing something that lay +beyond the pale of ordinary society, for which he had a profound +contempt. Even they did not escape his Thersites mood. But the fact +that he had discovered one among them at whom he found it absolutely +impossible to rail, and whom he had not the heart to ridicule even with +his black art, had inspired him with a strange feeling toward Jansen; +as though, if the whole decaying world should fall to pieces and leave +only this one man, nothing would really be lost, and the human race, +copied after this model, would be restored to a far higher grandeur. He +had really <i>loved</i> this man, carefully as he tried to conceal such +"sentimentalities" from every one, especially from himself. And now he +sat alone again in his Timonian bitterness, cutting silhouettes in the +dark, and angry with all other men because all of them taken together +could not compensate him for the loss of this one.</p> + +<p class="normal">He received the baron exceedingly badly, listened to his account of his +unloving child with a sardonic grin, and assured him that the only +consolation he found in this whole muddle of a world was that there +were still a few beings left, even of the female sex, who would not let +themselves be fooled by fine words, and who spoke out just what they +thought. He advised him to go to Africa and shoot a lioness, and adopt +her brood, whereupon he immediately began to cut out the baron in black +paper as the nurse of a wildcat, that he might give him a memento to +take with him on his journey.</p> + +<p class="normal">For although Irene had not yet given him official permission, her uncle +had, nevertheless, determined to follow her. As matters now stood he no +longer dared to present himself even to the old countess, who, when he +called to deliver Irene's farewell, had preached him an edifying sermon +upon her incredible conduct, and had received his jesting answer with a +very bad grace. There was not the slightest prospect of hearing +anything further in regard to Felix here in the city. No one knew in +what direction the supposed duel had taken him. Thus the old habit of +being under his niece's thumb, and the uselessness and joylessness of +his further stay in Munich, drew the old baron toward the South; and +the harsh manner in which even Schnetz had suddenly turned upon him +made the parting very easy.</p> + +<p class="normal">He put the silhouette in his letter-case without a smile, shook his old +friend by the hand, and left him, expressing the hope that they might +meet again under a warmer sun.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Two other pillars of the Paradise Club had grown shaky, and were in no +condition to arrest its fall.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rosenbusch and Elfinger had both appeared at the first meeting which +took place after the unfortunate masquerade, but in a conspicuously +depressed mood, and neither so witty nor so grateful for the wit of +others as was usually the case with them.</p> + +<p class="normal">On the way home they confessed to one another that the thing had +outlived its day; even the wine to-night was much sourer than in the +good old times.</p> + +<p class="normal">Now, the truth is, it was the very same wine, but its flavor could not +overcome the bitter taste on the tongue of the drinkers; and in each +this bitter taste arose from exactly opposite causes.</p> + +<p class="normal">Elfinger's deep and unswerving fondness had really succeeded in +stealing away his little devotee's heart from her heavenly bridegroom. +At one of those afternoon services in the little church already +mentioned, she had with many tears allowed the confession to escape her +that his love was returned; adding, however, a saving clause, that once +more put all his hopes to naught, that she should not on this account +consider herself any the less bound by her former vow, particularly as +her father confessor had clearly proved to her that she would be +neither happy on earth nor blessed in heaven unless she renounced her +sinful love for a Lutheran, and especially for one who had once been an +actor.</p> + +<p class="normal">To Elfinger's most eloquent attempts at dissuasion, the poor child had +only replied by tears and shakes of the head, and had answered the long +letters which her lover sent to her almost daily, by nicely-written +little notes, not altogether free from orthographical blunders, in +which she besought him in the most touching terms not to make her heart +still heavier, but rather to move to some other lodgings and never to +meet her again.</p> + +<p class="normal">This correspondence had, of course, merely poured oil upon the fire, on +this as well as on the other side of the street. Nevertheless it really +did seem, after all, as though their love was not destined to overcome +the evil powers; and in his grief at this Elfinger began more and more +to lose his taste for the joys of Paradise, generally spending his +evenings at home, brooding over plans for the overthrow of the +priesthood--which resulted in his toiling through all the pamphlets +against the Vatican Council, and in his composing for some of the +smaller newspapers violent articles favoring the abolition of convents.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, while his fate was trembling in the balance, his next-door +neighbor was still worse off; and, sad to relate, solely because of the +incredible worldly-mindedness of his sweetheart. Through his trusty +ally, the servant-girl, he learned that the only son of a rich brewer, +from one of the smaller cities of the region, was paying his attentions +to her; and the pretty little witch appeared to have refrained from +doing any of those things by which even the most obedient daughter may +show her aversion to a hated suitor. Rosenbusch, whose soul still clung +fondly to his romantic elopement project, refused, at first, to believe +in such villainous treachery. But when his letters remained unanswered, +the last one indeed being returned unopened by the post, he fell into a +terrible passion, spent whole nights in composing the most insulting +poems against brewers' sons and Philistines' daughters, and gave +himself up more and more to the most extravagant melancholy, +misanthropy, and dislike for work. He began to neglect his person too +in the most terrible way, wore, as his daily clothing, that ample +dress-coat of Edward Rossel's, which the latter had formally made over +to him after the wedding evening; and over this a coarse red-and-blue +plaid shawl, and a cap which he had cut out himself from his old slouch +hat, whose rim had been nibbled and considerably diminished by his +white mice, one night when he had left the door of the cage open.</p> + +<p class="normal">It is true, he still went regularly to the studio and shut himself in +under the pretense of laboring at some great, mysterious work; yet he +never touched a brush all day long, but cowered over the stove, in +which he managed to keep up a wretched little fire made out of +fragments of old fences that he had picked up here and there. There he +sat wrapped in his shawl, an unlighted cigar in his mouth, spying +around among his antiquities, to see which piece he should next tear +from his soul and deliver to the shop-keepers.</p> + +<p class="normal">For a very considerable payment that he had to make had exhausted his +last penny of ready money. In his emotion over the martyrdom of the +faithful dog, Rosenbusch had determined to give Jansen a pleasant +surprise by ordering a grave-stone for the little mound in the garden, +bearing the following profound inscription:</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><span class="sc">Hic jacet Homo</span>,</p> +<p class="center"><i>Nihil humani a se alienum putans</i>.</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">It was merely a plain block of granite ornamented by a dog's head +cut in profile, and the letters were not even gilded. Yet the +stone-cutter's bill proved to be twice as large as the first estimate +of the cost; so that he had been obliged to sell the sword and scabbard +of a Walloon cuirassier, a rusty snaffle-bit of the time of the Swedish +war, and his last halberds; and besides this, to paint an oil-portrait +of the stone-cutter's wife, in order to complete this act of respect +without incurring any debts.</p> + +<p class="normal">He never said a word about his troubles to any of his friends, not even +to Elfinger, and at the dedication of the monument, over which he +presided, he conducted himself with so much ease and dignity that they +all thought he had really found some unknown patron who advanced him +money on his great new picture. The fact that he appeared in a +dress-coat, in spite of the bitter winter cold, was attributed to the +formality with which he insisted upon treating the whole affair.</p> + +<p class="normal">He himself tried hard at first to keep up his spirits. He composed an +account of the ceremony in his most feeling verses, and accompanied +them with a sketch of the grave-stone and other illustrations relating +to the dedication, and sent the document to Florence, where Jansen and +Julie were then sojourning.</p> + +<p class="normal">The postage for this parcel cost him his last kreutzer. That day it was +nine o'clock in the evening before he ate his dinner (on credit); and +even then he went to bed hungry.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, though he deceived all others by the smiling mien with which he +wrapped himself in his shawl and his love-sickness, there were two eyes +near him that he could not blind in this way.</p> + +<p class="normal">Those were the eyes of his neighbor Angelica, and they, too, no longer +saw the world in such a rosy light as that in which it had appeared at +Christmas.</p> + +<p class="normal">The necessity that was inborn in her nature, to passionately worship +something or other, and to give vent to her adoration in extravagant +terms, no longer found anything to feed on since the departure of the +happy pair. Indeed, she would have had a very poor opinion of herself +if, after having found in Jansen the ideal of a true artist, and in +Julie the quintessence of beauty, she had now been contented to take up +with anything of a lower grade. At first she tried hard to grow +sentimental over little Frances, and to transfer to the child the +enthusiasm she felt for its parents. But as this was attended with some +difficulty because of their living so far apart, as well as on account +of a certain reserve peculiar to the little creature, she gradually +withdrew from this also, and contented herself with visiting the child +every Sunday and making enthusiastic speeches about its talents to its +foster-mother. The sensible little woman always received them rather +coolly, partly because she disliked everything like gushing +compliments, and partly because she felt hurt that her own children +were completely overlooked. For this reason, and for this reason only, +she was not sorry when, toward spring, a letter came from Julie with +the request to bring the child to its parents in Florence as soon as +the state of the weather would permit. Unfortunately, she could not +come for the child herself as she had hoped, her doctor having +forbidden her "for important reasons" to take the journey. Still, she +had too great a yearning to see Frances to be able to wait any longer, +and she entreated the faithful foster-mother to make still another +sacrifice for her sake, and to take advantage of the occasion to get a +peep at their Italian home.</p> + +<p class="normal">Some fine presents were added for the other children and a letter for +Angelica, in which her friend heartily besought her to accompany the +child, and, if possible, to spend the whole summer with them. Jansen +seconded this invitation in a very kind postscript; and the money +enclosed for the traveling expenses was reckoned for three persons.</p> + +<p class="normal">It is needless to describe the feelings of this good soul as she read +this letter, and saw the prospect opened to her of seeing again with +her own eyes, and clasping again in her arms, all that she loved and +admired. With beating heart and glowing cheeks she sat for a good hour +motionless before her easel, and had never in all her life felt so +happily unhappy or so torn by conflicting wishes. When at last she had +clearly made up her mind to decline the proffered happiness, she +appeared, in her own eyes, such a subject for commiseration, +notwithstanding all her consciousness of heroic virtue, that she began +to weep bitterly, and did not heed how her tears fell upon a wreath of +flowers in water color that she had just painted, moistening them with +an all too natural dew.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">In order to explain this, we must disclose a secret that our artist had +heretofore guarded carefully from every one--even from herself, as far +as such a thing was possible.</p> + +<p class="normal">The fate of the one man with whom this peaceable soul always stood on a +war-footing, and who, as it seemed, possessed none of all the qualities +by which one could generally win her love and admiration, had become of +such importance to her in the course of time, that her own weal and +woe, and even such a happiness as had just been offered her, became but +a secondary matter when compared with it.</p> + +<p class="normal">That violent hate can turn into burning love is a fact that is no +longer considered strange. But the transformation of a thoroughly +honest and obvious contempt into the exact opposite, without the object +of these conflicting feelings having changed especially himself, must +ever remain a difficult riddle to solve. This was especially the case +because this contempt for her neighbor was not directed against his +character as an artist and a man, of whose good qualities she might in +time have become more clearly convinced, but rested solely on the +contradiction in their characters, which appeared to her to have been +completely reversed in their cases from what Nature had intended.</p> + +<p class="normal">Little of the Amazon as there was about her, she nevertheless felt +herself, as compared with Rosenbusch, the stronger, more resolute and +more manly of the two; and, since devotion to something higher and +stronger was a chief necessity of her nature, nothing would have struck +her as more absurd than that this flute-playing, verse-scribbling +art-colleague of hers, who decked himself out in silk and satin like a +bearded girl, could ever become dangerous to her peace of mind.</p> + +<p class="normal">Consequently, when she found that ever since that stolen kiss on +Christmas night, innocent though it was, the picture of the robber rose +up before her oftener than before, each time causing a certain ashamed +surprise to creep over her virgin heart, she fought against this +weakness with all her power, and took pains to exaggerate, in her own +mind, the faults and absurdities of this gay deceiver. But, in doing +so, she was obliged to occupy her thoughts with him to an uncommon +extent, and she often caught herself studying his praiseworthy +qualities with far greater fondness than his laughable ones. +Unfortunately, she had plenty of spare time for these studies; for, as +Schnetz expressed it, she was enjoying a vacation from idolatry since +Jansen's and Julie's departure. And, finally, what contributed as much +as anything else to make her heart more tender, was the just fear that +things were going badly with her neighbor, and might end seriously for +him some fine day, unless some one came to his aid.</p> + +<p class="normal">She positively breathed easier when she discovered that he was hungry +and cold, and began quite cheerfully to revolve in her mind how she +could best assist him.</p> + +<p class="normal">She took good care to say nothing about it to his friends. To her alone +he should owe his rescue, and that without having the slightest +suspicion of it. She herself could hardly be said to be swimming in +luxury; that which she earned was just sufficient to carry her through +the world respectably; for she had the greatest horror of anything in +her art that had a taint of fraud about it, and was exceedingly +conscientious with regard to such matters. More than once she had taken +back a picture, with which the person who had ordered it expressed +himself as quite content, merely because it did not satisfy herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">But the suspiciously jolly air with which Rosenbusch met her on the +stairs, the ominous stillness next door, where the stove no longer sang +its morning song, nor the flute summoned the mice to the dance, so cut +her to the heart, that she would not have hesitated even to have got +into debt, if by so doing she could have saved her friend from +bankruptcy.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a sunny morning in April; she had accompanied little Frances and +her foster-mother to the station, and had thus given up the last thing +she had to exercise her sentimental devotion upon; and now she walked +slowly to her studio, firmly determined to seek consolation in her art. +But on arriving up stairs, where a fresh canvas was already awaiting +her, she made a mistake in the door, and, instead of going into her own +workshop, knocked at the battle-painter's, of whom she had not caught a +glimpse for several days.</p> + +<p class="normal">Rosenbusch knew her knock well. He always declared it was a pity she +did not play on the piano, she had such an excellent touch. However, he +did not seem inclined to let her in; at all events she had to knock +three times, and to call out that it was no use, he needn't pretend any +longer, she had seen him through the keyhole sitting there, and must +come in for ten minutes as she had an order for him; then, at last, he +slowly got up, crept to the door, sighing, and drew back the bolt.</p> + +<p class="normal">As she entered she cast a stolen look at the bare walls of the room, +that was as damp and chilly as a cellar, and at its miserable occupant, +who had folded his shawl tight about his body just as a beetle does his +wings in a rainstorm, and, with his pinched, half-starved looking +little nose, was making a wretched attempt to look chipper and pleased.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What are you making such an <i>ecce homo</i> face for?" she said, in her +brusquest tone, which now stood her in good stead in concealing her +emotion. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Herr von Rosenbusch, to +sit here in a corner and mope, this heavenly weather. Besides, it's so +cold here that the oil would freeze on one's brush. But I forget, you +are not doing any painting now. You have another acute attack of your +chronic laziness--or are you sick?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are mistaken, honored patroness," said Rosenbusch, in his silver +tenor, which now, however, sounded a little cracked. "I am quite well, +with the exception of a certain nervousness that is often to be found +among artists; atrophy of the <i>nervus rerum</i>, the men of science call +it. Besides, I am not sitting here so idle as you perhaps imagine; I am +working away at my great picture, having accustomed myself of late to +first complete the picture in my head, down to the last light effect on +the nostrils of a pack-horse. In this way you save an incredible deal +of color that you would otherwise have wasted in constant scratching +out. You ought to try it, Angelica."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you. Every one has his manner, and my ideas never come to me +until I see them first upon the canvas. But listen, Rosenbusch, does +this dry mental painting take up all your time? Couldn't you steal a +few hours in the day for outside work? A young officer's widow +has given me an order for a portrait of her husband, who fell at +Kissingen, to be inclosed in a wreath of laurels, cypresses, and +passion-flowers--between ourselves, a regular sampler idea. Only think +of it: the departed one on horseback, in the background the city; and +around it all a wreath, like onions about a dish of sauerkraut and +sausages. I let fall a few hints, as to whether it would not look +better, perhaps, if we should leave out the wreath, or at most paint in +the bust of the deceased? But no, it would not do to leave out the +horse, he might almost have been said to have been one of the family, +the widow declared--a beautiful bay stallion with a white star; and he +had also died in consequence of a wound. As the times are bad and the +lady did not find the price I asked any too high, I accepted the +commission. I immediately said to myself, it is nonsense; the horses +that you paint look a good deal like hippopotamuses, so you can't get +it done without Rosenbusch's help; and as he is now at work on his +great picture--but still, as you are only painting it in your head--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She turned away, so that he should not see the sly look that flashed +over her round face. But, in his wretched state of body and mind, all +his sharpness had left him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know, Angelica," said he, "that if I were painting the battles of +Alexander, I would always have time enough left for you. Besides, one +nag won't be anything of a job. I shall paint him with wide-spread +nostrils snuffing at the wreath, as though the laurels that beckoned to +his master had excited his own appetite. Symbolical allusions like that +can give an interesting air even to the most foolish picture."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will you have the goodness to dispense with all your jokes? The matter +is serious, the picture is to be placed on a sort of household altar in +the widow's sleeping-chamber, and a night-lamp is to be kept constantly +burning before it. So, if you will undertake to do the figures, +including, of course, the portrait of the officer--a photograph of the +horse is also to be sent to me to-day--I will paint a wreath around +them, and we will go shares in the fame and money."</p> + +<p class="normal">She named twice the sum she had asked. For she was determined to let +him have the whole, which would be no inconsiderable sum for him in his +present state. But to her alarm he did not show the slightest joy at +this unhoped-for income.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear friend," he said, "the two departed ones shall be painted, and +I promise you they shall bear as close a resemblance to a fallen hero +and a defunct war-horse as any sorrowing widow could possibly wish. I +will also, if you insist upon it, paint my monogram on the nag's +saddle-cloth, so that we may figure together in art-history, like +Rubens and Blumenbreughel. But you alone must have the money. I will +never consent to be paid in vile lucre for acts of friendship, +especially toward a lady, and above all toward an honored patroness and +neighbor. And, by the way, we can commence at once; I have come to a +halt in my composition--particularly as I have a cold in my head--and +as one finally gets quite confused merely from the number of good +thoughts that come to him--therefore, if you please--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He approached with arm gracefully bent, in order to escort her over to +her studio.</p> + +<p class="normal">Angelica knew him well enough to feel sure that nothing in the world +would shake him in the resolution he had taken; and, since everything +that was chivalrous in his character flattered her hidden liking, she +made no attempt to dissuade him. She would find some way of +recompensing him for his trouble without offending his sense of +courtesy, and a great deal had already been won in inducing him to go +to work again and to come into a heated room.</p> + +<p class="normal">There, to be sure, he was obliged to take off his shawl and appear in +the unlucky dress-coat which, having been intended for Rossel's rounded +proportions, hung very loosely about his shrunken limbs. However, he +was not in the least embarrassed by this, but proceeded to explain to +his friend, with the greatest seriousness, the advantage of having +one's clothes too large. In the summer they were airy, for they caught +the wind; in the winter they retained a larger supply of warm air--a +movable wadding, as it were, between the body and the cloth--while they +were much warmer in an unheated room, especially when covered by a +shawl, on account of their having so much more material. He delivered +this lecture over a cup of tea which Angelica had prepared for him, and +which evidently restored to his inner man the warmth he had so long +been without. As he was never more active than when he was working for +others, the rough sketch of the equestrian portrait was completed in a +few hours, and so skillfully set in Angelica's border of flowers that, +as she expressed it, the whole picture looked "quite crazy enough," and +they were able to proceed at once to the shading.</p> + +<p class="normal">Over this common labor, that afforded them both great pleasure and gave +occasion for innumerable jests, the forenoon had slipped away unheeded. +Angelica proposed to take her dinner in her studio to-day, against +which proposition Rosenbusch had nothing to object. She dispatched the +janitor with a few secret commissions, and in a short time had +improvised such an excellent meal that Rosenbusch burst out in great +enthusiasm.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">This was the first day for many weeks on which he had felt warm, and as +if he had enough to eat. Consequently he only made a few weak protests +when Angelica insisted upon furnishing him his meals so long as their +common labor lasted, and even made as though he did not notice that she +acted like a very Penelope, and again and again put off the completion +of the work under one pretext or another. However, the picture was +finished at last, and Rosenbusch, who had in the mean while grown quite +plump, would have been obliged to fall back again on his fasting and +brooding, had not his friend taken care to provide for him without his +knowledge.</p> + +<p class="normal">She succeeded in bringing it about that all the friends of the +inconsolable widow became possessed by a desire to have the effigy of +their dead or living husbands, done in the same way. Thus it happened +that our battle-painter was all at once completely overwhelmed with +orders for equestrian portraits, whereat he flew into a great passion, +for the modern uniforms were very much at variance with his Wouverman +tendencies. However, there were always the horses to fall back on, and +upon these he could labor with a good conscience, though he was always +complaining that the modern prejudices in regard to horse-breeding had +exterminated the majestic Flemish and Burgundian breeds. He painted +away at them with great zeal, "for his meals," as he expressed it, and +it was only when the approach of twilight forced him to leave off that +he allowed himself the pleasure of going round to his neighbors, and +inveighing against this servile labor to which his great work was being +sacrificed.</p> + +<p class="normal">Angelica never replied to his complaints by a single word. She had said +once for all that she thought there was nothing unworthy in his +painting military portraits by the dozen, provided he could get, +respectable prices for them; and in support of this she referred him to +some famous examples. But, in order that she might get him to work +again upon some larger task, she persuaded the young widow to give him +an order for the bombardment of Kissingen, at which her husband had +fallen.</p> + +<p class="normal">But in this case she had reckoned without her host. He absolutely +refused to paint so prosaic an affair as the bombardment of a modern +city, by modern troops who lay under cover and fired their cannon +unseen. Besides, he had not been present at the affair. Had he taken +part in person at the battle of Lützen? asked Angelica, maliciously. +No; but that was not a parallel case at all. Everybody would like to +have been present at such a glorious hand-to-hand fight as that, and +would, therefore, feel grateful to the artist who did his best to fix +on canvas the rearing chargers, the trumpeters blowing their bugles, +and the foot soldiers charging and dealing blows to right and left with +all their might. Modern battles, on the other hand, showed to quite as +much advantage on the maps of the general staff, where one could follow +on the table the scientifically-planned moves and countermoves by +geometrical lines and different-colored little flags.</p> + +<p class="normal">He could not be dissuaded from this, for on some subjects even +Angelica's influence over him had its limits. But the more she scolded +him for his obstinacy, and the more unsparing she was of her forcible +expressions, the better pleased she was at heart that he showed himself +so independent, so manly, and so unreasonable; and she often had hard +work to keep from falling out of her <i>rôle</i> and throwing her arms +around his neck.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was less satisfied with the persistency with which he clung to his +quiet melancholy, even after the beautiful weather had come, and there +was no longer any lack of money, and his loose dress-coat had long +since been exchanged for a natty summer jacket. She attributed this +dejection of one who was generally so light-hearted to his affair with +the beautiful Nanny, of which, contrary to his habit, he never spoke to +her, but which, as she knew, had not turned out very satisfactorily. +And so for many a day she sat dejectedly before her easel, listening to +catch the slightest sound from her friend's silent studio, where, even +now, the flute gave forth no music; while from the deserted rooms below +no sound of mallet and chisel nor any other sound of life reached her +ear.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the mean while, as we have said, summer had come. Rossel had invited +old Schoepf and his granddaughter to his villa on the lake. But as the +old man did not think it would be just the thing for him to go and live +with the girl under a bachelor's roof, and as she herself would not +listen to the proposal for a moment, our "Fat Rossel" also remained in +town, an arrangement, by-the-way, that was far more agreeable to him. +Kohle alone took up his quarters with old Katie, in order to paint his +allegory of Venus on the wall. The foster-mother had returned from +Florence with a whole trunkful of articles of art and ornament for +Angelica, and a thousand greetings from the happy pair. She was never +tired of telling about the beautiful life the two were leading: how +Herr Jansen had begun some wonderful new works; how the Frenchmen and +Englishmen had gone wild over them; and how happy little Frances was +with her beautiful mamma. She had also seen the baron and Irene, but +nothing had as yet been heard of the young baron.</p> + +<p class="normal">These accounts had greatly excited the good soul of our friend. Long +after the cheerful little woman had gone, Angelica sat at the table on +which she had spread out Julie's presents, the photographs taken from +the pictures of the Tribuna, the mosaic brooch and the beautiful silks, +and sadly reflected whether she would not have done better if she had +crossed the Alps when she was asked, instead of staying here at home +and torturing her soul with the pangs of a hopeless love.</p> + +<p class="normal">Just then she heard Rosenbusch rush whistling upstairs with unusual +haste. Immediately after he entered her studio. His face had the same +thoughtless, dare-devil expression that it used to have in his most +flourishing days, when he still wore his violet-velvet coat.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What news do you bring, Rosenbusch?" asked the painter, who was as +little pleased with his jollity as she had been before with his +dejection. "You look as if you had just made a great find, a genuine +Wouverman at some salt-dealer's, or the red cloth of which Countess +Terzky dreamed in Eger. Well?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My honored friend," he remonstrated, "you wrong me, as usual. What I +bring is not antiquities, but two very important items of news, a +serious and a comic one. Which do you wish to hear first?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"First the serious one. You alarm me, Rosenbusch. Why, you really look +quite solemn."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is a devilish serious matter; there is war, real, genuine war, +though the whole thing sounds so absurd that, in spite of the +declaration by France that you can read in all the papers, one feels +almost tempted to bet that it is a newspaper hoax. What do you say now, +Angelica? Is that piece of news serious enough for you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gracious heavens!" cried Angelica, "what an absurdity!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is a very wise remark of yours, my respected friend; but it can't +be helped; on account of just such absurdities the most sensible men +have lost their lives and whole nations their blood and treasure. To be +sure, there must be wars, else how would the battle-painters live? +However, you know my sentiments on that subject. Considering the +present system of artillery battles and rapid firing, you may be sure +it isn't for the sake of art that I am going."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You going to the war? You don't know what you are talking about, +Rosenbusch! You a warrior and hero? That is undoubtedly your second +item of news, the comic one, I mean."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are again mistaken, and of course to my disadvantage, my dear +patroness. The second item has nothing whatever to do with the first; +on the contrary, if we must regard the first as a public calamity, we +can call the second a joyful private occurrence: Fräulein Nanny and +Herr Franz Xavier Kiederhuber are announced as engaged; the wedding is +to take place in three weeks."</p> + +<p class="normal">His face had not lost its indifferent expression while he spoke these +words, but yet there was something about his voice as if everything +were not yet quite right.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear friend," she said, at last. "I have been so little <i>au +courant</i> of your affairs of the heart for the last few months, that I +really do not know whether I ought to congratulate you or to assure you +of my silent sympathy, I must tell you frankly, though, that of all +your lovesick moods I never could understand this passion of yours for +that insignificant, coquettish, and not particularly attractive little +doll--" (Even now, when the faithless one had ceased to be dangerous, +Angelica's jealousy vented itself in this harsh criticism.) "And now +for your grief at having found out such a little hypocrite to drive you +into the jaws of a park of artillery, belching forth death and +destruction--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It isn't that at all," he interrupted, with a heavy sigh. "It isn't +any sardonic mood that makes me think this vengeance of fate absurd. +For all I care she may make her brewer's son happy, and prefer his beer +and brewery horses to my oil and chargers. That unfortunate love of +mine has long ceased to be anything but a spectre, a mere phantom, as +is shown most clearly by the verses I have composed about it. Elfinger +told me to my face long ago: 'You don't love her at all; the stronger +the love, the weaker the love poems, and yours are unusually good this +time!' Nevertheless, Angelica, you are not altogether wrong in +supposing that I am going off to the war on account of an unhappy +passion. It is the same hopeless affection that has robbed me of my +usual good spirits for some time past. But what's the odds? The powder +that is to remedy this folly has been invented at last!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Another</i> unhappy love affair? Oh, you wretch! I could almost take +sides with the beautiful Nanny; she must have found out what a +butterfly with blue-velvet wings was fluttering around her!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, whether what she did was right or wrong, she certainly conferred +a great favor upon us both by acting as she did. But, just because I +tried to retain my constancy as long as I possibly could, I grew +melancholy when I found how much difficulty I had in feeling the +slightest pain at the faithlessness of this young daughter of the +Philistines--of this Delilah for whom I once out off my beard and +flowing locks. And even though I have been perhaps unduly led, by my +sense of justice, to do homage to different styles of beauty at the +same time or in rapid succession--I am punished now more cruelly than I +have deserved. However, there is no help for it. It is to be hoped it +won't last long. It is true that as volunteer nurses, for as such we +are going to report ourselves (for Elfinger can't stand it any longer +either), we shan't at once get into the heaviest fire; and of course no +one can expect for a moment that we would enter as privates at this +late day, and go through a course of drill, and then follow after the +rest when the sport is all over. But during the battle, when all is +confusion, when human beings are bowled down like lead soldiers, +perhaps there will be a stray bullet for one of us--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't talk in that godless way, Rosenbusch! It is very noble and brave +of you to want to go with the rest; it certainly does you honor. But, +because it is such a holy cause, do leave your jests behind you; forget +'all lighter trifling, dalliance sweet,' and--and when you are in the +field--and really--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She suddenly broke off. The thought that he was going to leave her, +that he would be surrounded by dangers and might stand in need of her +help, came over her with such force that she had all she could do to +restrain her tears.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was gazing at the ground with a sad face, and had not noticed her +emotion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are in one of your jesting moods again," he said, staring at a +large photograph of the Cellini "Perseus." "And I willingly give you +permission to ridicule all my former 'amours and courtesies,' and to +look upon them as Ariostian sports, springing from pure love of +adventure. But, you shall not lay hand on this, my last and lasting +passion. It is of a very different calibre; and, though I dare not +mention its name to you, I am sure you would yourself admit that this +flame has nothing in common with the Nannies, Annies, and Barbaras that +I once loved. But I won't be such a fool as to take you into my +confidence. Then, indeed, you would let out upon me the vials of your +raillery, and I am anxious that we should part good friends."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You speak in riddles, Rosenbusch. If you really should lose your +reason in a sensible way--I mean over a subject that is worth the +trouble--why should I make fun of you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because--but no, it is useless to say any more about it. Do tell me, +for Heaven's sake! would you have believed this Monsieur Ollivier to +have been capable of such a vile performance, such a piece of silly +defiance--like a corps-student 'renowning it?' A man that only a little +while ago--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No dodging, Herr von Rosebud. You have told me too much for you to try +and put a seal on your lips now. As a woman, and as your true, sincere +friend, it is not only my right but my duty to be curious. Out with +it--who is this latest flame?--and if I can aid you by word or deed--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her voice grew unsteady again. She did not dare to look at him. He, +too, let his eyes wander around the studio in another direction.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you positively insist upon knowing," he stammered, at last--"and, +after all, there's nothing to be lost or gained by my telling you--the +person of whom I speak is the only female being to whose peace of mind +I can't imagine myself in any way dangerous--I couldn't imagine it even +in a dream. It is impossible for her to feel toward me either love or +hate. She has given me unmistakable proof of this--partly by constantly +scolding, railing, and mocking at me, partly by the kindest and most +brotherly friendship--such as one only shows to a person when one is +absolutely certain that one can never fall in love with him. I ought to +have been warned by this, and have taken better care of my heart. But, +just because such a relation was quite new to me, I fell into it +blindfold, and now I am plunged up to my ears in the most hopeless, +most undying, and most imprudent passion. There you have my confession. +I think you will dispense with my mentioning to you the name of the +person in question. But I won't detain you longer. I see you have your +palette ready to go to work. <i>Adieu!</i>"</p> + +<p class="normal">He turned toward the door. But he had not crossed the threshold when +his name reached his ear--and his heart, too, because of the unusually +tender tone in which it was pronounced. He stood as if rooted to the +spot, and waited to hear what more the voice would say. But he had to +wait a good while, so he spent the intervening time in observing the +wall, which separated this room from his own, and which was large +enough to easily admit of a door being cut through.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear Rosenbusch," the voice began again, at last, eyen a little more +tenderly than before. "What you have said is so new, so entirely +unexpected to me--and then, again, so confusing--come, let us talk +about it like a couple of sensible people and good comrades--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He again made a movement as though he were going. The beginning did not +strike him as being particularly consoling. "Sensible discussion and +good-fellowship!"--if she had nothing better than that to offer him--</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," she continued; "hear me out, first. You are always so hasty, +Rosenbusch! If you will only promise me not to be offended at anything +I say--for I would like to be perfectly frank. Will you promise me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He nodded rapidly three times in succession, and gave her an almost +timid look; and then hastily looked down again. In the midst of her own +confusion and embarrassment she could not help smiling at the shy, +penitent air of one who was usually such a self-confident lady-killer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can't deny," she said, "that in the first part of our acquaintance +I really did not think much of you; you were--pardon me for saying +it--rather disagreeable than dangerous to me. The very name of +Rosenbusch sounds so perfumed and sentimental--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well!" he ventured to interpose, "Minna Engelken is also a devilish +sweet name!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, still, it doesn't sound so Jewish. I took you for a Jew in +disguise."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We have been baptized these hundred years, and my grandmother came +from a Christian family, and was a Fräulein Fliedermüller."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, besides, I found you too--how shall I say?--too 'pretty' for a +man, and the others all said you were amiable. Pretty and amiable men +have always been intolerable to me. They are generally conscious of it, +and contemplate themselves in the glass at moments when they are not +watched, and comb their beard and even their eyebrows. And all the +while they care for no one but themselves; and, if they pretend to grow +sentimental over a woman, it is done in such a way that the unfortunate +person thus favored would rather receive a box on the ear than such +homage, if her heart is in the right place. Don't get angry, +Rosenbusch; it isn't your fault that you have such a pretty little nose +and are so amiable--for that you really are. But you will understand; +an old girl who is no longer pretty, and who never was considered +amiable--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, Angelica!--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, you mustn't interrupt me. It would be very stupid of me if I were +not wise enough to know how I look, and what impression I make upon +people after having had nearly thirty years in which to make my own +acquaintance. How old are you, Rosenbusch?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall be thirty-one on the fifth of August."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then there is scarcely thirteen months difference between us. Don't +you see, that in itself is an objection? But to proceed: your +flute-playing, your white mice, your many love-affairs; can you blame +me for looking upon you as a man who was not in the slightest degree +dangerous--to me, at least? I had formed a very different idea of the +man who was to win my heart, and, if I chanced to find such a one, I +knew at once that it would be an unfortunate affair if I regarded the +matter seriously. For such men want very different wives, and in that +they are quite right. So I intrenched my poor soul behind my sense of +humor, and, as you see, that was both a good and a bad thing to do; +good, because it has helped me over many a bitter hour; bad, because it +made me appear even less amiable than I really am at bottom. A woman +who has humor, who does not weigh each of her words--where are the men +who still believe that a good, womanly heart lies behind it all? The +conceited men, like yourself, for instance, are especially repelled by +such a one. Unless we cower in sweet bashfulness before your great +words and beards, we are not worthy to be loved by your great souls. +For that reason I was truly never more astonished by anything than by +what you have just said to me. It is true, that since--well, for some +time past I will say--I have gained a very different opinion of you; it +is my duty to confess this to you after having so candidly told you the +rest to your face. I have learned to esteem you highly, Rosenbusch; +I--I even believe I must make use of a stronger expression; I have +conceived a hearty love and affection for you--no, you mustn't +interrupt me by a single word, it must all come out first. Do you know, +on that night when you behaved so naughtily--you recollect it, don't +you?--you took a liberty which you regarded merely as the toll of +gallantry, but which a girl who has any respect for herself--though I +have no prudish notions about such things when people are really in +love with one another--and that was it that made me feel so badly, +because you took such a liberty without really loving me; and I believe +I didn't close an eye half that night, and that I shed many secret +tears, because--because, do what I would, I couldn't be angry with you +for it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Angelica!" he cried, eagerly, approaching to seize her hand, which, +however, she instantly drew back. "Why do you speak this way, if you +will not make me happy--if you will not even let me kiss your hand? No, +I won't be kept from speaking any longer; for, no matter how much about +my bad qualities you may still have on your conscience, you can +no longer deny that you like me, that you think well of me; and +that is the main thing and a thousand times better than I ever dared +to hope. Dearest, best Angelica, only try and believe that even a +thirty-one-year-old battle-painter can improve. I will stop up my flute +with lead, I will give my mice strychnine in a piece of Swiss cheese, +and will wear a covering over my nose so that the children shall run +away at sight of me. And, finally, in regard to my love-affairs--do you +really believe I am so wanting in taste, to say nothing of all nobler +motives, as to have eyes for such every-day doll-faces, after having +found in your countenance the image of all love and goodness, of all +wisdom and grace?"</p> + +<p class="normal">In the mean while he got possession of one of her hands and pressed +it so earnestly, at the same time gazing into her face with such +true-hearted, mischievous eyes, that she grew quite red and came very +near losing her firmness. However, she quickly recovered herself again +and said:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are a truly dangerous man, Rosenbusch. I begin to realize that now +from my own experience. If I did not call to my aid all the little +sense and self-consciousness I possess, we should now fall into one +another's arms, and ruin would take its course. One more name would +stand on your list; you would go to the war, and there, in the great +events that go to make up the history of the world, you would find the +very best excuse for letting this little affair of the heart drop +completely out of your memory. No, my friend, I think too much of +myself for that. I confidently believe that my respected person has +merely become of importance in your eyes, because I have heretofore +withstood your amiability in a perfectly incomprehensible way. As soon +as you should become convinced that I too am only a weak woman, I +should become a matter of great indifference to you. Now, it is true, +my stupid honesty has prevented me from concealing this from you; but I +don't regard myself as hopelessly lost even yet. Now, if you go to the +war, we shall both be equally well off. We shall both have ample time +and opportunity for forgetting one another. I, to be sure, here alone +in this deathly quiet house, where I hear nothing but the squeak of +your mice--I shall have somewhat the harder time. But perhaps some +other dangerous youth will move into your quarters--a dark-complexioned +Hungarian or Pole--I have always had a partiality for brunettes, and +for that reason alone it is a great mistake for me to love you with +your red beard."</p> + +<p class="normal">She had to turn her head away, it was impossible for her to conceal her +emotion any longer by forced jests. She stealthily pressed her curls +against her overflowing eyes, but, nevertheless, she shook her head +when he put his arm around her and drew her to his breast.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, no!" she whispered; "I don't believe it even now. You shall see it +will turn out badly. It's so silly of my stupid tears to give the lie +to my wisest words; and then, too, my foolish heart, that ought to be +old enough not to let itself be deluded--"</p> + +<hr class="W20"> + +<p class="normal">On the evening of the same day Angelica wrote a long letter to Julie.</p> + +<p class="normal">After she had relieved her heart of a thousand things that concerned +her friend alone, and had arrived at the end of the twelfth page, she +finally summoned up all her courage, took a fresh sheet, and wrote the +following postscript:</p> + +<p class="normal">"To tell you the truth, I was going to be so cowardly and deceitful as +to send off this letter without telling you of the great event of this +day. I don't mean the declaration of war by France, which will be an +old story by the time this letter comes into your hands, but the +offensive and defensive alliance that I have to-day concluded. With +whom, I should very much prefer you should guess for yourself. But as +it will be too long for me to wait before I can learn whether you have +guessed rightly or not--and as one is said to lose in shrewdness what +one gains in happiness--I will state at once that the artful man +who has surprised my well-known firmness and prudence is no other +than--Rosenbusch. I hope you are not so far-sighted as to see that in +making this confession I blush to such an extent as to do all honor to +my future name--though my rosiness is of a somewhat faded sort. Oh, +dearest! what is our heart? It really seems as though that inexplicable +and irresponsible something within us that controls the blood in its +course and makes the hand cold or warm if we place it in that of +another, exists almost independently of all those other forces which +govern that little world we call the individual. How often have I made +this dear fellow-creature the butt of my merciless sallies! How often, +when alone with you, have I caricatured his weaknesses and human +frailties--to be sure he has changed very much since you last +saw him--and made merry over this rat-catcher with his flute and +blue-velvet coat! And all the while my heart sat in its cell as still +as a mouse and made no movement; nay, even my conscience did not rebel +at the godless way in which I denied that love we are commanded to feel +toward our fellow-creatures. And now all of a sudden--</p> + + +<p style="text-align:center; font-size:90%">'Frailty, thy name is woman!'</p> + + +<p class="continue">Oh, dearest! do promise me to forget all my malicious sayings just as +quickly as possible, and to believe that I had long been convinced of +the critical state of my heart, even before this bad man confessed his +feelings to me. I did not write you anything about it, because I +naturally regarded the matter as a wretched piece of stupidity on the +part of this above-mentioned heart, and even now I can't quite believe +in it. You know I never was very lucky in regard to real happiness. And +for that reason I haven't much faith even now; if it is true that he +loves me to distraction, as he declares he does, I feel convinced I +shan't get any enjoyment out of it, and he will be sure to get killed, +for he is going off to the war as a volunteer nurse. And yet I have not +tried to dissuade him from taking this manly step. You remember that my +chief objection to him was that he wasn't quite manly enough. And now, +after all, his love is to be put to the test of fire, and we shall see +whether he will bring it home uninjured from the smoke and horror of +battle! How shall I bear the separation! I shall paint a few poor +pictures and get a few gray hairs, and then when he comes back he will +realize clearly what a mistake he has made. But, as God wills! I'll +bear it quietly. The times are so great, who has the right to think of +his or her poor person? All is enthusiasm; Elfinger is going too (his +little nun seems to have driven him to desperation), and, what will +rejoice you, Schnetz has joined his old regiment again, and looks upon +life like a new man. It touched me to hear our good Kohle, who paid me +a visit this morning, curse his poor health, which shut him out from +all the hardships of war. He has designed a splendid tableau: Germania +on the summit of the Lurlei rock, from which she has cast down the +enchantress in order to excite all her sons to battle against the enemy +by her song of triumph. Rossel, who, of course, would be perfectly +useless away from his rocking-chair, has at least subscribed a thousand +gulden for the benefit of the wounded. Every one according to his +strength. I shall make lint of my paint rags, and sacrifice my heart's +blood for the cause in another way. Farewell! Rejoice in your +unclouded, paradisaical, peaceful life in the beautiful South; and +write to me soon, dearest, beautifullest, happiest, only sister mine! +Rosenbusch wishes to be remembered. A fortnight more--and then in this +whole house, where so many dear ones have lived and labored, there will +beat but one lonely heart--that of your <span style="letter-spacing:4em"> </span><span class="sc">Angelica</span>."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">When that old earth-shaker Vesuvius grows tired of his peaceful +slumbers and, breaking out into sudden fury, lights up the night far +and wide with his flaming torch, till all around is bathed in purple--</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="t8">"In Capri the Marina</p> +<p class="t4">And Naples Day and Mergellina,"</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">--not only is the hut of the poorest vintager reddened by the terrible +glow, but, in the yard behind, the water bubbles in the well, and a man +skilled in reading the signs can estimate the strength of the eruption +from the boiling and steaming of this narrow, walled-up fountain with +as much accuracy as from the surf of the open sea, that washes the foot +of the buried cities.</p> + +<p class="normal">So, too, are the changes of that light, which streams from those +immortal deeds and sufferings that move the world, reflected in the +lives of humble mortals; and it would be no slight task to trace out +the signs of such a time not merely on the battle-field, but in the +homes and huts of those who were left behind.</p> + +<p class="normal">A psychological study of war, such as we may expect from some one +better fitted for the task, will have to bring out this reverse side of +the medal sharply and clearly. But the novel steps back modestly when +its elder brother, the epic, in glittering armor and with clang of +arms, enters once more upon the world's arena. Where every individual +lot was so completely merged in the fate of the nation, we should give +the reader but a poor idea of our friends if we showed them as busy +with themselves, their personal aims, duties and interests. That each +of them had proved himself ready, according to his manner and ability, +Angelica's letter has already shown us. Therefore we are all the more +sorry that the excellent writer herself did not quite rise to the level +of the time.</p> + +<p class="normal">It is true it never occurred to her to complain that the Eden-like +condition of a life devoted to art, and removed from all worldly +turmoil--where beauty is the highest aim of all striving, and that +alone has the right to existence which is perfect in itself--had +suddenly been destroyed, and had given place to a hard, merciless +reality. Upon the whole she had a warm appreciation of the magnitude of +the great historical issue at stake, and it filled her with joyful +enthusiasm to see how earnestly all who were connected with her, as +well as the whole people, felt the force of the old proverb that one +should make a virtue of necessity.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet in spite of all this her heart, usually so brave, was unable to +preserve this heroic spirit, that sustained many a weaker one, through +the long time of trial.</p> + +<p class="normal">Even when taking leaving of Rosenbusch she had shown herself strong. +She felt it her duty not to make heavy her parting lover's heart, but +to give him, in her own person, an example of the way one should +sacrifice one's dearest wishes on the altar of the fatherland, with +smiling magnanimity. But this "<i>Pœte, non dolet</i>" revenged itself +upon her. Scarcely was she alone, when she reproached herself for +having pretended an unwomanly hardness and severity that was calculated +to frighten away her sensitive friend, rather than to bring him nearer +to her. She immediately wrote him a long letter, in which, for the +first time, she confessed her great love for him without reserve; +beseeching him in the most moving terms not to expose his life +recklessly, sending him all her prescriptions for rheumatism and chafed +feet, and entreating him to write to her at least once a week.</p> + +<p class="normal">These weekly letters of his were now the only thing for which she +seemed to live, aside from the mere mechanical activity with which she +devoted herself to works of charity in the women's societies and on her +own account. She never appeared among her friends except on those +occasions when she had just received one of these letters from the +front, and then she came running to old Schoepf, her cheeks glowing +with joy, to tell him the latest news about Rosenbusch and Elfinger, +and to have pointed out to her, on the special map that Rossel had +given the old man, the exact spot where her lover must now be. But for +everything else she showed but slight interest, just as she seemed to +have completely lost her humor.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was only amusing when she came to speak about the <i>francs tireurs</i> +and the treachery of the native inhabitants, by whom she was +perpetually imagining her lover attacked, plundered, maltreated, or +even killed, in spite of the red cross which she had made and sewed on +his coat-sleeve with her own hands. On these occasions she indulged +in such droll maledictions upon the Gallic national character, +and recounted such incredible instances of her own cowardice and +ghost-seeing, especially at night, that she finally had to join in with +the laughter of the others, going home again with her heart somewhat +lightened.</p> + +<p class="normal">During all this war time she did not touch a brush. As nobody cared for +flower pictures, it was evidently a saving for her to cut up her canvas +and make use of it for sewing purposes, rather than to waste oil colors +on it.</p> + +<p class="normal">She never allowed any of the camp letters that her tender-hearted lover +wrote her to be seen by any one else. They were love-letters, she said, +and not newspapers, and belonged to her alone. Once only did she +prevail upon her heart to part with one, in order to give her friend in +Florence a pleasant Christmas surprise, for Julie knew that she could +give away nothing in the world that was dearer to her than such a token +of life and love from the hand of her betrothed. She accounted to Julie +for the fact that this epistle, a comic rhymed affair in Rosenbusch's +old light-hearted manner, sounded less tender than the others, by +explaining that it was accompanied by an extra sheet in prose, which +dealt with the intimate affairs of the heart. True to the profound +saying of Elfinger--"The stronger the love, the weaker the verses"--our +lover had taken good care not to compose his actual love-letters in +rhyme, for which Angelica felt grateful to him in her soul.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">The hard war winter was over; the spring had brought peace and the +birth of a new German Empire; and midsummer saw the victorious host +returning to its home.</p> + +<p class="normal">It is just two years since that day when our story began. Once more it +is hot and still in the Theresienwiese, so still that a flute concerto +from the window of the studio building could be heard for a long +distance around. But the flute is silent. Moreover, although it is a +weekday, a Sunday calm hangs over the country round about. No roll of +carriages is heard, and no people are seen hurrying busily through the +streets of the suburb. Yet the great bronze maiden before the +Ruhmeshalle does not seem surprised at this loneliness and quiet. It is +true, without raising herself on tiptoe, she can look away over the +houses of the city, to the gate on which stands a smaller likeness of +herself in a chariot of victory, drawn by four stately lions with +majestic heads and manes. And so she knows the reason why everything in +her neighborhood appears as if it were dead. Just as the blood from the +whole body streams swiftly to the centre of life, when some sudden +stroke of fear or surprise reaches the heart, leaving the extremities +paralyzed and lifeless, so the whole population had collected around +that spot where their heart was to-day--the arch of triumph through +which the conquerors were to enter. The great bronze woman sees the +flash of arms and the waving of flags on the high-road before any one +else, and something like a smile flits across her tightly-shut lips. +Any one who had been watching her closely at this moment would have +seen that she raised her arm higher than usual, and slightly moved the +wreath in her hand, as if in token of greeting to the triumphal +procession. This occurred just as the bells rang out from all the +church towers in the city, and a shout of joy from a hundred thousand +throats announced the arrival of the advance guard.</p> + +<p class="normal">Among the entering host are two faces well-known to us.</p> + +<p class="normal">At the head of his regiment, which has left nearly half its number on +the cold ground at Bazeilles and Orleans, and for that reason has to +accept a double tribute of flowers from the windows on the right and +left, rides Captain von Schnetz, his lank figure seated bolt upright in +the saddle, his breast blazing with orders, and his whole person +covered from head to foot with the bouquets which, aimed at the rider, +have fallen off and been handed up to him by the boys that run along at +his side. He has decorated his sword with them, and his helmet, and his +pistols, and his horse's trappings, although usually he is no great +admirer of flowers. Nor does he do this now for his own glorification +or pleasure. But he knows that, at a window in the first story of that +stately house over yonder, there sits a woman, thin and prematurely +old, but whose cheeks, usually so pale, wear a joyous flush to-day, and +whose eyes, grown faded through long suffering, beam once more with +something of the brightness and hopefulness of youth. It is to this +woman that he wants to show himself in his covering of flowers. +Heretofore, she has worn a crown of thorns; now he wants to show her +the promising future he has won for himself and her. But she sees him +from a distance only. When the good, honesty yellow-leather-colored +face, with its black imperial, rides by, close to the house, her eyes +are so bedimmed by tears that she only sees, as if through a veil, how +he lowers his sword to her in salute, and bows slightly with his +garlanded helmet. The wreath which she has held ready for him falls +from her trembling hand over the railing upon the heads of the densely +packed crowd below. But they seem to know for whom it is intended. In a +second twenty hands have helped to pass it along to him, and now it is +handed up to the rider, who lets all the others slide off his sword so +that this one alone shall be wound about it.</p> + +<p class="normal">Not far behind this brave soldier rides another, upon whom, likewise, +the eyes of the women and girls in the windows gaze with pleasure, +though he is a stranger to them all, and, for his part, very rarely +lets his dark eyes rest on any of these blooming faces. For who is +there here whom he cares to seek? And whose face would he be glad to +see unexpectedly? It was only with great reluctance and in order not to +offend Schnetz, who asked it of him as a particular proof of +friendship, that he finally consented to take part in the entrance of +the troops, and to visit once more the city which had so many bitter +associations for him. These last two years--what a different man they +had made of him! And yet--although he was firmly convinced that the +source of every joy was dried up in his innermost heart, and that +henceforth nothing was left to him but a barren satisfaction at duties +conscientiously fulfilled--even he could not altogether escape the +festal mood of this marvelous hour. His handsome face, made bolder and +keener by the hardships of war, lost the sad, hard expression which had +never been absent from it during the whole year; a bright +determination, a quiet earnestness, beamed from his eyes. As he rode +through the triumphal avenue strewn with flowers, amid the chime of +bells and the wildest shouts of joy, he lost the consciousness of his +own hopeless lot, and became merged, as it were, in the great, +pervading spirit of a unique and sublime festival, which would never +come again; and to take part in which, with the Iron Cross on his +breast, and honorable, scarcely healed wounds underneath, was a +privilege which might well be thought to compensate for all the lost +bliss of a young life.</p> + +<p class="normal">After the entrance ceremonies were over, he wended his way toward the +garden on the Dultplatz, where he thought there would be the least +danger, to-day, of meeting any one of his acquaintances. Here, +surrounded on all sides by the country-folk who had streamed into the +city in great crowds, he sat in the shade of the ash-trees and, like a +dream, the events of the last two years passed in review before him; +from that first Sunday afternoon when he dined here with Jansen and his +new friends, down to the present moment, when he sat in the crowd +solitary and alone, sought by no friendly eye, and merely stared at as +one of that great host which had done honor to its fatherland.</p> + +<p class="normal">The crowd in the garden had already begun to thin out a little when +Schnetz touched the dreamer on the shoulder. He did not speak a word +about the meeting he had just had with his wife; but such an unwonted +joyousness could be detected in his voice and bearing that for the +first time Felix began to feel a quiet envy of this happy man, who had +been expected and welcomed by some one whom he loved. He, for his part, +would have greatly preferred to leave the town again before night; for +after the first glow of enthusiasm was over, his spirits had once more +become so gloomy that he would have given a great deal to escape from +the festivities of the evening. But he had promised Schnetz a whole +day, and he had too often been under obligations to his friend, in the +hard days of trial that winter, not to grant him this small favor.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I will let you off from all ceremonial visits," said his +friend, as they left the garden arm-in-arm. "But we really must go and +pay our respects to the invalids, and afterward shake hands with Fat +Rossel. He would never forgive you if you didn't think it worth while +to congratulate him in his new state; and, besides, it is all up with +your <i>incognito</i>. At the window from which our friend Rossel viewed the +spectacle sat another individual, who once upon a time took a great +fancy to your worthy self, and who, notwithstanding the fact that her +grandpapa and husband stood behind her, gave vent to her patriotic +enthusiasm in the most unrestrained manner possible, throwing all the +flowers in her basket at you at one go. But, of course you, like Hans +the Dreamer, rode past your happiness all unconscious of it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What, Red Zenz? And she recognized me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"In spite of your uniform and short-cropped hair. But you must accustom +yourself to a more respectful way of speaking of her. One speaks now of +Frau Crescentia Rossel, <i>née</i> Schoepf. They wrote me about this affair +a good while ago; but as you refused, once for all, to listen to any +news about Munich matters, I kept this event from you also. It must +have come about curiously enough, and quite after the manner of the +creature as she was then--I mean, before she had been tamed by the yoke +of wedlock. You know--or don't you know yet?--that Rossel lost his +whole fortune some time ago. He had invested it with his brother, who +was at the head of a mercantile firm in the Palatinate, carrying on a +brisk trade with France. This brother became a bankrupt in consequence +of the war, and our Fat Rossel would have become a miserably poor devil +overnight if he had not owned the house in the city and the villa out +there on the lake. He immediately sold the house with all its +appurtenances, of course at a low enough figure, for no one had much +money to spare in war time. But for all that it was such a good round +sum, that the interest from it just succeeded in keeping his head above +water, though he could no longer live like a <i>grand seigneur</i>. A +purchaser might also have been found for the villa; but in order not to +disturb our good Kohle, who was in the very midst of his Venus +frescoes, he resisted the temptation, and--who would have thought +it?--aroused himself from his bear-skin to take up his brush again, +though, to be sure, with much grumbling and cursing. This act of +heroism seems to have melted, for the first time, the armor of ice in +which the heart of the little red coquette was encased; particularly as +he did not for a moment bemoan the loss of the property on his own +account, but only expressed the deepest sympathy for his brother. +To be brief, as he perceptibly pined away under all this, partly from +love-sickness, partly because he had been obliged to dispense with +the services of his all-too-sumptuous cook, this singular creature +was touched with pity for his troubles, appeared one day in the +scantily-furnished lodgings with which the former Sardanapalus was now +forced to content himself, and announced to him, without any further +ceremony, that she had been thinking the matter over, and was willing +to marry him. She felt, to be sure, not a spark of sentimental love for +him--such a love as that she had experienced but once in her life, and +then it had gone badly with her--but she no longer felt any aversion +toward him, and since he needed a wife who understood something about +housekeeping, he had better go and make inquiries whether there wasn't +another room and a kitchen to be had on the same floor, in which case +they could go on living there.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And they say the arrangement has really worked very well so far. Of +course old Schoepf has gone to live with them; and Uncle Kohle, who, in +the mean while, has refused the hand of Aunt Babette, and has quietly +gone on painting his Venus allegories in spite of Sedan and Paris, also +sleeps and takes his meals there; and Rossel paints one glorious +picture after another, protesting all the while, they say, against this +useless expenditure of strength, and longing for the time when he can +finally settle down to rest. I have my private suspicions, however, +that, in spite of all this talk, he is more contented with his present +life, even leaving his marital joys out of the question, than with the +barren seeds of thought which he, lying idly on his back, once +scattered to all the winds of heaven."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">In the mean while they had passed through the city, which was +richly decked out with flags, wreaths and mottoes, while crowds of +joyfully-excited people surged up and down the streets--and had arrived +at the English garden.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where are you taking me to?" asked Felix. "There is no hospital within +twenty miles of here, unless they have been turning the Chinese tower +into one."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come along," answered Schnetz. "You'll soon get things straight. The +queen-dowager selected the place herself, and no doubt many a poor +fellow will make true the saying: '<i>hodie eris mecum in Paradiso</i>.'"</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the Paradise garden? <i>In our Paradise?</i> The boldest imagination +among us all could never have dreamed of such a thing as our meeting +there again under such different circumstances."</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Sic transit!</i>--And besides, our friends are, fortunately, much too +lively a pair of birds of paradise not to fly away again some fine +day."</p> + +<p class="normal">When they reached the garden gate, they saw that all the benches under +the trees were empty, although in all the other beer-gardens they had +passed the people sat packed close together. An inscription indicated +the different use to which the house was now devoted, and the few +grave-looking people who met them--among the rest women with eyes red +from weeping, leading little children by the hand, and further back in +the garden the pale, tottering figures of convalescents--formed a sharp +contrast to the noisy, merry crowd that was generally to be found here +on holidays. The two friends walked thoughtfully round to the other +side of the house, and, being in uniform, had no difficulty in +obtaining admittance.</p> + +<p class="normal">They had made the rounds of many a hospital-ward within the last year, +and had seen the after-effects of the war in much more horrible +pictures than any that clean, quiet rooms could offer them.</p> + +<p class="normal">And yet now, when they beheld once more the halls which they had left +in the blaze of the carnival time, robbed of all their ornaments, +and the sisters of charity moving softly up and down the long row of +sick-beds, soothing a moan of pain here and mixing a cooling drink +there; and the grotesque frescoes on the bare walls no longer concealed +by tall plants; and outside the window the pure sunlight shimmering +through the green treetops, instead of the midnight stars looking in +upon a merry feast--such mingled feelings came over them that neither +could utter a word.</p> + +<p class="normal">They started to look for their friends. But strange faces only looked +up at them from their beds of pain. Finally, a young doctor gave them +the desired information.</p> + +<p class="normal">The halls down below here were already full when the two gentlemen had +been brought in. So they had willingly acceded to their request to have +a room to themselves, and had quartered them in the top story. He +offered to guide them up there himself; but this Schnetz gratefully +declined, not wishing to take him away from his patients.</p> + +<p class="normal">So they mounted to the corridor of the top story, and at the very first +door which they came to they heard a voice from the room within that +caused them to start. It was a soft, girlish voice reading something +aloud--verses, as it seemed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It isn't likely they are in here," muttered Schnetz, "unless they have +been seized with a pious fit, and have consented to let a sister of +charity come in and edify them with her hymn-book. Well, there have +been instances.--But no, this hymn-book has never seen the inside of a +church, at all events."</p> + +<p class="normal">They listened, and distinctly heard the lines.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Holy Maid of Orleans, pray for us!'" cried Schnetz. "I must be +greatly mistaken in my man, if Elfinger isn't found somewhere near when +Schiller is being spouted."</p> + +<p class="normal">Without stopping to knock, he softly opened the door, and entered with +Felix.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a high but not a very large room, whose only window opened on +the rear of the garden. Only a single ray of the afternoon sunshine +streamed through the gray blind and fell upon one of the beds that +stood near the wall on the right; while the other cot, opposite it, was +surrounded by a high Spanish screen, and was pushed back so as to be +entirely in the shade.</p> + +<p class="normal">On the bed to the right lay Rosenbusch, covered over with a thin +blanket, the upper part of his body propped up into a half-sitting +posture by pillows, holding a sketchbook on his knees and busily +engaged in drawing.</p> + +<p class="normal">Except that his face was somewhat paler, he showed no traces of the +hardships he had suffered; but on the contrary, his bright eyes beamed +from under a red fez as merrily, and he looked as fresh as he lay there +in his loose jacket, with his carefully-tended beard, as though he had +made his toilet for the express purpose of receiving visits.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I could have told you so!" he cried to his friends, as they entered +(the reader who sat behind the screen was silent in an instant)--"the +first visit of the saviours of the fatherland, on this day of triumph, +is to the invalid's paradise. God greet you, noble souls! You find us +here as well provided for as if we were in the lap of Abraham; art, +poetry, and love, make our life beautiful, and the fare is ample; +though, unfortunately, we are on invalids' diet. No, you mustn't look +at what I am scribbling. Or rather, for all I care, you may look at the +thing as much as you like. A Rosenbusch, <i>seconda maniera</i>, or <i>terza</i> +rather, if I count in my classical period, my parting of Hector and +Iphigenia <i>à la</i> David. Now, as you see, we are splashing about in +realism of the most modern sort--Father Wouverman will turn in his +grave, but I can't help that. And, after all, this pack of Turcos and +Zouaves are by no means to be despised. Magnificent contrasts of +color, set off by the vineyard scenery, and our own blue devils over +there--like a thunder-cloud. By Jove! it won't look bad, will it? Do +you know what the secret of modern battle-painting is, the clew to the +riddle, to find which I had first to have a hole shot in my thigh? The +episode, my dear fellow, nothing but the episode. Grouping in masses, +tricks of tactics--nonsense, a map would do just as well for that +purpose. But to condense in an episode the prevailing character of a +whole battle--that is the point. Those old fellows had an easy time of +it, for in those days a great, murderous battle was nothing but a +handful of episodes. Well, every man must accommodate himself to the +length of his blanket."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tours is long enough to keep you warm, old comrade-in-arms," replied +Schnetz, examining the ingenious sketch with great pleasure. "But how +goes it with your bodily progress?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thanks. Fairly. In six or eight weeks I hope to prove myself quite a +lively dancer at my own wedding. I only wish," he added, in a lower +voice, with a slight movement of the head toward the other bed--"that +our friend over opposite had such bright prospects--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Herr von Schnetz!" they now heard Elfinger's sonorous voice say from +behind the screen--"You seem to have completely forgotten that there +are other people living on the other side of the mountain. Whom have +you brought with you? To judge from the step it is our brave baron. +Won't the gentlemen be so kind as to do a poor blind man the honor? You +will find some one else here who will be very glad to welcome my old +friends again."</p> + +<p class="normal">At the first sound of these cheerful words, which moved him painfully, +Schnetz had stepped behind the screen and seized the hands the sick man +gropingly held out to him. Felix, too, approached. Elfinger could not +raise his head from the pillow on account of the ice compress that was +laid across both eyes, but the pale, finely-formed face beneath it lit +up with such a joyful smile, that the two friends were so moved they +could hardly stammer out the necessary words of greeting.</p> + +<p class="normal">A slim young figure had risen from the chair at the head of the bed to +make room for the gentlemen. She still held in her hand the book from +which she had been reading, and her delicate face blushed when Schnetz +turned and cordially pressed her hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I need not introduce you to one another," said Elfinger. "Baron Felix, +too, will probably recollect my little Fanny, from having met her at +that memorable boating party. In those days we two were not so well +acquainted with one another as we are now, for, as you know, 'it must +be dark for Friedland's stars to shine.' I still had one eye too many. +It is only since I have been left quite in the darkness that she has +clearly seen that her heavenly bridegroom would not be angry with her +for being unfaithful to him in order to light a poor blind cripple +through life. Isn't it so, sweetheart?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't boast in such a godless way," they heard Rosenbusch call out, +"as if it were on your account, <i>pour tes beaux yeux</i>, as messieurs our +hereditary enemies say, that she became converted and joined our +society. Nonsense! Fräulein Fanny, it is simply because you have to do +penance for your faithless sister, and redeem the honor of the Munich +women."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be quiet over there, most fickle of mortals," cried Elfinger; "or I'll +complain of you to Angelica. You must know they take turns in nursing +us, these two good angels; and although that frivolous man opposite +ought to thank God that such an excellent woman has finally received +him into grace, he is perpetually making love to my sweetheart over the +screen. Fortunately, I have, once and for all, said good-by to +jealousy, which would certainly be ridiculous enough in a blind man--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope you exaggerate, Elfinger," interrupted Felix; "when we took +leave of one another in Versailles the doctor gave us great reason to +hope--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The way was a trifle long, and the snow-storm that welcomed us home to +our fatherland--pshaw! If it is so, and I only have enough twilight +left for me to recognize the outlines of a certain face when it is +close to mine, I will be happy. But even if this is no longer possible, +ought I not to count my lot fortunate? 'I had it once--I tell you I can +recall all the faces I loved as distinctly as if I had a pair of +perfect eyes in my head--" he felt for the hand of the blushing girl +and pressed it to his lips. "And now," he said, "enough about my +respected self. Since we last saw one another the most wonderful events +have come to pass. The German empire and the German emperor! Good God, +we praise Thee! Do you know, since all this happened I have begun to +have some hope for the German stage again?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"At all events, your colleagues have learned how to play the <i>rôle</i> of +heroes respectably well, without opening their mouths wide, rolling +their eyes, and sawing the air with their arms and legs."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, but seriously, do you remember our first conversation on this +subject, my dear baron? Now just see whether I haven't cause for hope. +Our want of unity was chiefly to blame for the wretched state of our +stage. Imagine thirty-six court-theatres fighting with one another for +the few actors who really have talent. Now, my idea is that, when they +have become a little sick of military spectacles up there in the +imperial capital, they will arrive at the conclusion that a great +nation also needs a national theatre; not one in name, but one which +shall really unite all the best talents. A model manager, a model +repertoire, and model performances, not given oftener than, at the +most, two days running; and not with one eye on Melpomene and Thalia, +and the other on the cash-box, so that a miserable clap-trap piece will +be allowed to remain on the desecrated boards thirty consecutive +nights, merely because a few actresses change their dresses seven times +in the course of the performance. Only the very choicest pieces must be +selected, from the classical and modern stock, and the parts must be +filled only by the strongest actors. All real talent must be engaged at +any price, though there should be three Franz Moors and Ophelias +playing against one another at the same time; and the whole must be +emancipated from all court influence, and regarded as an imperial +affair under the charge of the Minister of Culture, who should be +responsible to the nation. What do you say to such a stage?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That it will continue to be too fine for this world for some time to +come," answered Schnetz. "But who knows? Even this world can improve; +we have seen how it has done in other fields. I only fear that, even +under the most favorable circumstances, the other Germans will +respectfully decline to give money, <i>in majorem imperii gloriam</i>, for a +theatre of which the Berliners alone will reap the benefit."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Naturally," cried Elfinger, gesticulating excitedly; "and they would +have a perfect right to do so. For that very reason my plan is to make +this model stage accessible to all the empire. What else do we have +railroads for, and the gala-performances that have been attempted here +and there? All that is necessary is that it should be made a regular +institution. Six winter months in Berlin, a month's vacation, four +months' of triumphal progress of the imperial actors through all the +cities of Germany in which a worthy temple of the muses can be found, +then another month of rest, and so on with grace <i>in infinitum</i>. Don't +say a word against it! The thing has its difficulties, but, when we +shall have gotten our theatrical Bismarck, you will see how well it +will work, and then everybody will wonder why it was not thought of +long before. Isn't it natural that the talent for impersonation should +also grow richer among a people who have finally won self-respect, who +have learned how to walk, and to stand, and to talk as well as the rest +of the world? I--of course, I have retired from the scene. But, +nevertheless, I can work for it. I will give instruction in +declamation; I will open the minds of the young actors; I will show +them how to recite verses and bring style into their prose--you know +rhapsodists always have been blind from time immemorial--and with the +aid of my little wife here, and of my tremendous memory--"</p> + +<p class="normal">At this moment the young doctor came in. He had heard Elfinger's +earnest speech outside in the corridor, and came to warn him not to +over-excite himself. His friends took leave at once.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope you won't leave Munich without having seen Angelica again," +said Rosenbusch. Felix, though he would greatly have preferred not to +look up any one else, had to promise that he would call on her. He did +not notice the peculiarly sly look which the painter bestowed upon +Schnetz. Still, although he believed he should not see these two good +friends again, he left them with a comforted feeling. He knew that +each, after his own fashion, had attained the goal of all his wishes.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">Outside, they were swallowed up again in the roaring and surging human +stream, and borne toward the city. The old countess drove past them in +a very elegant open carriage, her daughter by her side, and her son +and son-in-law on the back seat, both in uniform and decorated with +medals of honor. The happy old woman, who was taking the fresh glories +of her family out for a ride, and gazing around her with proud eyes, +recognized Schnetz immediately, and nodded to him with amiable +familiarity. She looked at his companion through her eye-glass, but did +not appear to know him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Brave youngsters," muttered Schnetz. "Whatever else you may say of +them, they certainly fought well. But now let's take a drosky. Of +course, our young husband lives outside there where the last houses +are."</p> + +<p class="normal">As they drew up before Rossel's quarters--a plain little house in +the Schwanthalerstrasse--they caught sight of a woman's head at the +flower-framed window above; but it was instantly drawn in again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Madame is at home," said Schnetz, with a smile. "Of course, she has +been expecting your visit, and has probably arrayed herself in great +style. Hold on tight to your heart, <i>triumphator</i>!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Upon arriving up-stairs, they were not received by the lady of the +house herself, as he had expected, but by a servant-girl, who conducted +them into the studio. In comparison with the luxuriously-furnished +room in which their friend used to recline on his picturesque +bear-skin in his own house, this one was very scantily decorated. +There were no costly Gobelin tapestries, beautiful bronze vases, +and brilliantly-polished pieces of furniture in the style of the +Renaissance. But on some of the easels stood pictures in various stages +of completion, and the artist himself advanced to meet them, in his +shirt-sleeves and with his palette on his arm.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So here you are again!" he cried. "Now thanks be to all the gods that +you have come back with sound limbs and unscratched faces! You have a +fine piece of work behind you. Nor have we stay-at-homes been lazy in +the mean while; and though not fighting for emperor and empire, we can +at least say of ourselves that we have been working <i>pour le roi de +Prusse</i>. But it makes no odds, let us hope for better times; in the +mean while I am trying to drive away the blues with this daubing. For +Heaven's sake, don't look at the things; they are wretched efforts, +merely made in order to try my brush again. For that matter, you +mustn't look about you here at all--<i>quantum mutatus ab illo!</i> Of all +my household goods, I have retained nothing but my Boecklin; a thing of +that sort is like a tuning-fork when one has lost the key-note. Neither +must you inspect me too closely. I am reduced, my dear fellows, very +much reduced. You see I have shrunken to unnatural proportions; what +has become of my rounded form? But, what could be expected when a man +gets to work by eight o'clock every day, and so violates his holiest +principles? But wait, I will go and call my wife. She is the thing best +worth seeing in the whole house."</p> + +<p class="normal">He made his friends sit down on a small leather sofa that bore little +resemblance to the celebrated "West-easterly" divan of former days, +and ran out calling for his wife. In the mean while, they had time to +look around. So much that was excellent met their view on all the +canvases--such clearness, and simplicity in form and color--that they +were moved to sincere enthusiasm, and eagerly expressed their delight +to one another.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are too good," Rossel's voice rang out behind them. "It is +possibly true that, in the course of time, I have become a passably +good colorist. It isn't for nothing that a man refrains from his own +sins for ten years, and has no other thoughts than to get at the +secrets of the great. But so long as no one cares a rap about it, it +remains a barren, private delight, and finally withers like a plant in +a cellar. Who cares, nowadays, whether human flesh like this looks +fresh, or as if it had been tanned? The subject, the idea, and now, to +cap the climax, the patriotic sentiment--no offense, my heroes! Even in +that way we can drag ourselves out of the slough; of course, upon +condition that we give that nixie there a petticoat, and provide that +fisher-boy with a pair of swimming-trousers at the very least."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Amid all these profound remarks we have wandered from the main point +again," said Schnetz. "Where is your wife?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"She asks to be excused--says she is engaged--and won't show herself at +any price. I told her to her face it was only on account of the Herr +Baron. 'Of course,' she answered, 'I wouldn't mind the first-lieutenant +at all.' Oh, my dear friends, if I only were not so hen-pecked! But I +can assure you, much as I have always raved about women without brains, +I now see clearly that they are the very ones who know how to succeed +in having their own way. However, in the present case, it has turned +out to my advantage. For no matter how free from prejudices one may be, +he can't help making a wry face when he sees his wife blush slightly in +saying good-day to her first and only love. Won't you come and dine +with me to-morrow? Little, but cordially offered--<i>un piatto di +maccheroni, una brava bistecca, un fiasco di vino sincero</i>. I think the +lady of the house will make her appearance too--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix excused himself by saying that he was to leave on the following +day. Old Schoepf now entered, looking a little more dried up than +of yore, and with his dark face almost completely covered by his +snow-white hair and beard. He was in the best of spirits, and inquired +eagerly about the campaign experiences of his friends. When the +conversation turned upon Kohle, the old man declared that they must +certainly go out and visit him at the villa, to see the frescoes he had +already finished. He had only allowed himself a half-holiday, and had +hurried back again as soon as the entrance of the troops was over, to +add the last touches to the paneling. When Felix had to decline this +invitation likewise, the old gentleman bestowed a look of questioning +surprise upon his grandson-in-law; but he refrained from pressing the +young man any further, who acted as though the ground of Munich burned +under his feet.</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix was obliged to tell his friends about the position that awaited +him in Metz. On more than one occasion he had attracted attention at +headquarters, and his judgment and energy, the fact that he was +acquainted with the French language, and, perhaps, the wish to have +some one who was not a Prussian connected with the administration of +the conquered province, had united in causing him to be made aide to +the new governor of the frontier fortress. To carry out properly a task +which combined such difficult and untried elements, fresh minds were +required--such as had not merely acquired experience under existing +well-regulated forms of government, but such as had been schooled in +real life, and, fitted with the necessary mental quickness, were also +equipped for unforeseen contingencies.</p> + +<p class="normal">The grave face of our young Baron lighted up a little as he spoke of +the life of activity before him. But an expression of settled +resignation could be detected in every word he spoke. The others, +however, apparently paid no attention to this; and, as he went +down-stairs, Rossel shouted "<i>Au revoir!</i>" after him, just as in the +old times when they were certain of meeting again within a few days.</p> + +<p class="normal">As they stepped into the street, Felix heard his name called from one +of the windows above. He saw young Frau Rossel standing among the +evergreens, cheerfully nodding and waving her hand to him. Her delicate +coloring looked even brighter than in the old days; and a little +morning-cap, which she had coquettishly placed a little on one side on +her golden-red locks, gave her round face a most charming appearance of +housewifely dignity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are not to suppose I don't care anything more about my old +friends!" she shouted down to them. "At the entrance of the troops I +threw a whole lot of flowers at you; and you, proud sir, didn't deign +to look up once. Well, this time, at all events, you have turned to +look at me. Your uniform doesn't become you half as well as citizen's +dress. You don't look so distinguished in it. As for me, I couldn't +think of letting you see me. But in six or eight weeks from now--you +must come to the christening--do you hear? My husband will write to you +about it. And, now, good-by, and good luck to you. I'm sure I wish it +you with all my heart. You have certainly worked hard enough to deserve +it."</p> + +<p class="normal">With this the laughing face disappeared from the window, without +leaving the men time to say a word in reply.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<br> +<p class="normal">"And now to Angelical," said Schnetz. "You haven't far to go, and she is +certain to be at home."</p> + +<p class="normal">Felix stood still.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let me off from this visit," he said, his face suddenly darkening. +"Help me think of some excuse, so that I shan't offend the good girl. +You know how much I esteem her; but she is the only person who, I have +reason to believe, knows all. The others may have been satisfied with +that fiction about the duel; but she, Julie's best friend--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No matter what she knows or doesn't know--nonsense! You can be as +brief as you want. Come, give me your hand on it. Good! And there's her +house there. I will say adieu to you here; I have some business to +attend to; and I will call for you this evening at the hotel, and we'll +go and see the illumination together."</p> + +<p class="normal">"They are all so kind!" cried Felix, when he was alone; "they all want +to help me to bear what is bitter and irremediable. But it is high time +for me to try a change of air. Here--where they are all going to lead +such happy and comfortable lives, and where every one breathes more +freely and more healthily now that the storm of war has swept away the +old mists and fogs--for me alone to go about with such a face among +these good, contented people--no! I must go away from here, and the +sooner the better. If I leave this evening, travel all night--to-morrow +I can be deep in my work. I will beg Angelica to excuse me to Schnetz. +She will be the first to understand that I am in no mood for +illuminations."</p> + +<p class="normal">He had no sooner formed this resolution than he drew a long breath, and +hastened his steps toward the house which Schnetz had pointed out to +him. The gloaming had already come, and the first candles of the +illumination were glowing in a few of the windows; but those at +Angelica's house were dark. Up-stairs the door was opened for him by +the old landlady, of whom Angelica hired her lodgings. The Fräulein was +at home, she said, pointing to the nearest door. He knocked with a +beating heart, of which he felt fairly ashamed. A woman's voice called +out "Come in." As he entered the dusky room, a slender figure rose from +the sofa, on which it had had been idly sitting as if waiting for him. +"Is it permitted me to come so late, my dear friend?" he said, +advancing hesitatingly. The figure tottered forward to meet him, and +now for the first time he recognized the features of the face--"Irene! +Good God!" he cried, and involuntarily stood still; but the next moment +he felt two arms encircling him, and burning lips pressed to his own, +stifling every word and plunging his senses into a whirl of delirious +joy. It was as if she wanted never to let him recover his speech again; +as if she feared he might vanish from her arms forever, the moment she +let him go. Even when she finally removed her lips from his and drew +him, bewildered and trembling, upon the sofa at her side, she went on +talking alone, as if any word that he might throw in would destroy the +spell that had at last led the loved one to her side again. He had +never seen her thus before; the last bar had fallen from her virgin +heart; and a yielding woman, laughing and weeping in the sweetness of +passion, lay upon his breast, with her arms around his neck.</p> + +<p class="normal">Not a word was said about that which had kept him from her so long. It +was as if the war had called him from her side, and now at last he had +returned and all would be well again, and far more beautiful than it +could ever have been without his youthful heroism and his honorable +scars. He had to listen to many tender complaints and reproaches for +not having given her any news about himself in all this time. But the +moment he tried to say a word in his own defense, she closed his lips +with impassioned kisses.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be still!" she cried. "It is true you are a great sinner, my darling +hero, but I--what wouldn't I forgive you on this day, this glorious day +of festival and joy! And, you see, it did not help you any after all. +You imagined you were safe from me, and thought you could march in here +with the rest without any one's being the wiser, while I sat and sulked +in my old-maid's cell on the Lung' Arno. But this is the time of +miracles! I cast aside my pride of birth, and all the good training I +owe to myself, as if they had been old rags, and went to uncle and said +to him: 'If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to +the mountain. That wicked Felix would like to be rid of me; but it +takes two to do that. Come, uncle, let us go to Munich. I must see my +lover ride in through the gate of victory, Schnetz writes that he looks +nobly in his uniform, and I can't help it even if the old countess +doesn't think it proper for me to run after this faithless man. He ran +after me long enough, and we ought to exchange <i>rôles</i> for once.' And +so here I am, and have been sitting here on the very same spot for +three hours, waiting for a certain youthful hero, and scolding terribly +at Schnetz, who had promised me that he would entice him into this +love-trap just as soon as he possibly could. And now it has actually +sprung upon you, and you sha'n't be let out again as long as you live."</p> + +<p class="normal">The lights in the streets outside had long been blazing in full +brilliancy, and under the windows a joyous crowd of happy people +streamed past toward the centre of the city, where the illumination was +said to be the finest. But the two happy lovers had forgotten all else +in the bliss, so long deferred, of gazing into one another's eyes and +seeing the flame of inextinguishable love and devotion glowing there. +She asked after the companions who had been with him through the war, +and he after the friends she had left behind in Florence. But neither +paid much attention to what the other answered; all they cared for was +to hear each other speak, and to assure themselves by the sound of +their voices that they were once more united.</p> + +<p class="normal">An hour may have passed in this way, when some one knocked softly. The +knock was repeated three times before they heard it, and Irene ran to +open the door. Angelica came flying in, the two girls fell on one +another's necks, and good Angelica's voice was so stifled by suppressed +tears that it was a long time before she could speak.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I have come too soon," she said at last; "but when +wouldn't it have been too soon? A thousand congratulations, my dear +Felix--pardon me, the Herr Baron doesn't come glibly to me to-day--and +now, make haste, so as to see a little of the illumination--it is +magnificent--we have just come from it, and Irene certainly didn't +travel five hundred miles just to sit here in the dark while all Munich +swims in a sea of light. Besides, she saw very little of the review +this morning, for she only had eyes for a single defender of the +Fatherland. You will have seen all you want to in half an hour, and +then I invite the ladies and gentlemen to assemble once more under my +humble roof and partake of a modest cup of tea. Schnetz will also +appear, and your uncle, the baron, has solemnly pledged me his word not +to let himself be dragged into any champagne-supper to-day. It's a pity +Rosenbusch isn't well enough yet! The poor fellow has only a lame leg, +and an elderly girl as a wife, as a reward for all his bravery. But +don't you think he bears his lot with incredible fortitude?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The lights of the festival had long been extinguished, and the last +joyous echo of this happy day had died out, when Felix entered the +little room, which was the only one still to be had in the whole great +hotel. Even now he could not think of such a thing as sleep. He sat +down on the bed and drew from his pocket a letter which Irene had given +him when he parted from her before her hotel, and gazed--with what +overmastering emotion!--upon the handwriting of the friend whom he had +believed to be lost to him forever, and whom this day restored to him +again, to add to all its other unexpected blessings. He read the +following lines:</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">"Let this letter bear you our congratulations, dear old friend. When it +comes into your hands the last shadow will have been lifted from your +life. You will hear enough about us from the lips of your beloved, to +satisfy you of our happiness. But, possibly, there may be one subject +concerning which she may feel a delicacy about speaking; our happiness +is now secure from all external interruption. A few weeks ago a legal +divorce was effected, and our union, which certainly stood in no need +of a certificate to cement it closer, has now, for the children's sake, +received the sanction of the law. The unhappy woman herself lent a hand +in bringing this about. She is in Athens, where a rich Englishman has +been paying his court to her. The last spark of ill-will toward her has +been extinguished in me. I can think of her as of one dead. May she +find peace in the sphere she has voluntarily chosen--as far as such a +being ever can find or bear peace.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And now let us at least hear from you again, my dear old boy. All we +have heard about you has rejoiced our hearts. You are about to enter +upon a new phase of life, and to put in order that part of the world +which has been assigned to you. I wish you all success. After all, it +is your proper calling; and if the wise saying of our friend Rossel is +correct, that real happiness is merely that condition in which we are +most keenly conscious of our individuality, you certainly must be +esteemed happy, and will make happy the noble heart that has +surrendered to you. Dear old fellow, what a splendid prize each of us +has drawn! That we had to work hard to deserve it, is all the better. +All that is not deserved humiliates. And we still have an excess of +happiness given us by the gods, whom we ought not to be too proud to +thank.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But here I am talking about our own fates, and passing by, without a +single word, the great and mighty event in the world's history which +has just been concluded. Though, to be sure, there are no words capable +of expressing its greatness and importance. In the consciousness of +this dumb amazement the feeling can scarcely be avoided that the Muses, +who are usually silent mid the clash of arms, will not recover their +voices very soon. You men of action have the lead for some time to +come; for the revolution that has taken place in the public mind, and +the movement which has extended to all conditions of life and of civil +society, is far more wonderful, far more pregnant with consequences +than you, who took an active part in it, can appreciate in the first +pause after your final blows. We who are lookers-on are in a position +to get a more comprehensive view, for we can also see how the recoil, +of whose force you can have no conception, acts upon our neighbors.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The truth is, this is a period of reconstruction of all political and +social conditions; whatever is essential asserts itself, and whatever +is <i>real</i> clamors everywhere for the place that belongs to it by +nature. Consequently, those who are called upon to rearrange our new +life have the first and last word; while those who, like us artists, +have to do with dreams, stand aloof and thank fortune if their names +are still mentioned now and then. You know that, with all due respect +for politics, I cannot regard them as belonging to the highest problems +of the human mind. The possible and the useful, the expedient and the +necessary are, and must ever be, relative aims; it should be the task +of the statesman to make himself less and less necessary, to educate +the public sense of justice so that the greatest possible number of +free individuals can live in harmony with one another; and each, alone +or in conjunction with some fellow-workman, can occupy himself with the +eternal problems. Shall we live to see the time when the arts which +have heretofore flourished like wild flowers upon ruins, shall adorn +the symmetrical, inhabited, and solid walls of the new structure of the +state with their foliage of undying green? Who can say? Mankind lives +quickly in these days. In the mean while let each one do his best.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Farewell, and make up your mind to <i>live</i>, and to let your fellow-men +<i>know</i> that you live. I wish you could all--dear, good, and faithful +friends--wrap yourselves in the mantle of Faust and be set down among +us at this very moment. I am writing this letter in a villa on the +slope of the splendid hill that bears upon its summit old Fiesole. +Julie is walking up and down the garden carrying our <i>Bimba</i> in her +arms, while little Frances walks by her side, busily studying her +lesson. How beautiful the world is all around me! And with what still, +pure, silent joy do I think of you, dear friends! Come and give us a +sight of your happiness, and rejoice with us in ours!</p> + +<p class="normal">"And then we will make the old 'Paradise' to live again under another +heaven and on a new soil."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>THE END.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>REMORSE.</h1> + +<h2>From the French of TH. BENTZON.</h2> + +<p class="center">(<i>Forming Number</i> 13 <i>of the "Collection of Foreign Authors.</i>")</p> + +<p class="center">16mo. Paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<hr class="W20"> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>From Lippincott's Magazine</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Remorse,' which appeared recently in the <i>Revue des Deux Mondes</i>, is +a novel of great power. The author, who writes under the name of 'Th. +Bentzon,' is Madame Blanc, a woman of great intelligence and the +highest character."</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>From the New York Sun</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The story entitled 'Remorse' attracted much attention from the grace +and vivacity of its style, and from the singular vigor evinced in the +portrait of a literary personage whose successive love-affairs were +turned to the account of his poetry and novel-writing. The essential +shallowness and meanness of such a nature are strikingly contrasted +with the earnest and genuine character of the heroine, and the elements +of a tragical situation are evolved with much ingenuity out of this +antithesis. There is in these figures a certain crispness and +vividness, as if the author had studied their counterparts In real +life."</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>From the New York Graphic</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Told with such grace and delicacy as to render it intensely +interesting. It belongs to the best class of modern French fiction, +which embraces the finest representatives of literary taste and skill."</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>From the New York Evening Post</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Th. Bentzon is a novelist of no mean gifts, even in the art of apt +narration, while her handling of strong passion is at times very fine. +'Remorse' is a tale of considerable power."</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>From the Boston Courier</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Remorse' is a book of positive grasp, and penetrates the senses with +a keen, steady point, like that of a rapier."</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>From the Boston Gazette</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Remorse' has strong dramatic power in its plot, which is treated in a +manner that makes it interesting. It is a story of self-sacrifice +spiritedly told, and showing both thought and care in its delineation +of character. Some of the more passionate scenes are full of intensity, +and the interest is fully sustained to the end."</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>From the Utica Morning Observer</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is sparkling and brilliant, full of that nameless element which +makes the society novels of the French so attractive and so +sensational."</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>From the Washington National Republican</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is a highly interesting tale. It is well written; its characters +are delineated with an artistic touch; its theme is well developed, and +its incidents are of startling interest."</p> + +<hr class="W20"> + +<h2><i>D. APPLETON & CO.</i>, 549 & 551 <i>Broadway, New York</i>.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>AMERICAN PAINTERS:</h1> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Biographical Sketches of Fifty American Artists</i>.</p> + +<h2>WITH EIGHTY-THREE EXAMPLES OF THEIR WORKS,</h2> + +<h3>Engraved on Wood in a perfect manner.</h3> + +<hr class="W20"> + +<p class="center">Quarto; cloth, extra gilt <span style="letter-spacing:10px"> </span>Price, $7.00: full morocco, $13.00.</p> + +<hr class="W20"> + + +<p class="normal"><p class="center"><i>The painters represented in this work are as follows</i>:</p> +<br> +<table cellpadding="10" style="width:90%; margin-left:5%"> +<tr> +<td>CHURCH,</td> +<td>HUNT,</td> +<td>J. H. BEARD,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>INNES,</td> +<td>WHITTREDGE,</td> +<td>W. H. BEARD,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>HUNTINGTON,</td> +<td>W. HART,</td> +<td>PORTER,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>PAGE,</td> +<td>J. M. HART,</td> +<td>G. L. BROWN,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>SANFORD GIFFORD,</td> +<td>McENTEE,</td> +<td>APPLETON BROWN,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>SWAIN GIFFORD,</td> +<td>COLMAN,</td> +<td>CROPSEY,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>DURAND,</td> +<td>HICKS,</td> +<td>CASILEAR,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>R. W. WEIR,</td> +<td>WINSLOW HOMER,</td> +<td>E. JOHNSON,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>W. T. RICHARDS,</td> +<td>DE HAAS,</td> +<td>SHIRLAW,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>T. MORAN,</td> +<td>J. G. BROWN,</td> +<td>CHASE,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>P. MORAN,</td> +<td>WYANT,</td> +<td>BRICHER,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>PERRY,</td> +<td>WOOD,</td> +<td>ROBBINS,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>BELLOWS,</td> +<td>BRISTOL,</td> +<td>WILMARTH,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>SHATTUCK,</td> +<td>REINHART,</td> +<td>EATON,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>MILLER,</td> +<td>BRIDGMAN,</td> +<td>GUY,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>J. F. WEIR,</td> +<td>BIERSTADT,</td> +<td>QUARTLEY,</td> +</tr><tr> +<td colspan="3" style="text-align:center">HOPKINSON SMITH, <span style="letter-spacing:4em"> </span>MEEKER,</td> +</tr></table> +<br> +<hr class="W20"> +<p class="normal">The publishers feel justified in saying that the contemporaneous art of +no country has ever been so adequately represented in a single volume +as our American Painters are in this work, while the engravings are +equal in execution to the finest examples of wood-engraving produced +here or abroad.</p> +<br> +<br> +<h2>OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.</h2> + + +<hr class="W20"> + +<p class="normal">"The richest and in many ways the most notable of fine art books is +'American Painters,' just published, with unstinted liberality in the +making. Eighty-three examples of the work of American artists, +reproduced in the very best style of wood-engraving, and printed +with rare skill, constitute the chief purpose of the book; while +the text which accompanies them, the work of Mr. George W. Sheldon, +is a series of bright and entertaining biographical sketches of +the artists, with a running commentary--critical, but not too +critical--upon the peculiarities of their several methods, purposes, +and conceptions."--<i>New York Evening Post</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The volume gives good evidence of the progress of American art. It +shows that we have deft hands and imaginative brains among painters of +the country, and it shows, moreover, that we have publishers who are +liberal and cultured enough to present their works in a handsome and +luxurious form that will make them acceptable. 'American Painters' will +adorn the table of many a drawing-room where art is loved, and where it +is made still dearer from the fact that it is native."--<i>New York +Express</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is at once a biographical dictionary of artists, a gallery of pen +portraits and of beautiful scenes, sketched by the painters and +multiplied by the engraver. It is in all respects a work of art, and +will meet the wants of a large class whose tastes are in that +direction."--<i>New York Observer</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"One of the most delightful volumes issued from the press of this +country."--<i>New York Daily Graphic</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Outside and inside it is a thing of beauty. The text is in large, +clear type, the paper is of the finest, the margins broad, and the +illustrations printed with artistic care. The volume contains brief +sketches of fifty prominent American artists, with examples from their +works. Some idea of the time and labor expended in bringing out the +work may be gathered from the fact that to bring it before the public +in its present form cost the publishers over $12,000."--<i>Boston Evening +Transcript</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This book is a notable one, and among the many fine art books it will +rank as one of the choicest, and one of the most elegant, considered as +an ornament or parlor decoration. The engravings are in the highest +style known to art. Mr. Sheldon has accompanied the illustrations with +a series of very entertaining biographical sketches. As far as +possible, he has made the artists their own interpreters, giving their +own commentaries upon art and upon their purposes in its practice +instead of his own."--<i>Boston Post</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'American Painters' consists of biographical sketches of fifty leading +American artists, with eighty-three examples of their works, engraved +on wood with consummate skill, delicacy of touch, and appreciation +of distinctive manner. It is a gallery of contemporary American +art."--<i>Philadelphia Press</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This work is one of surpassing interest, and of marvelous +typographical and illustrative beauty."--<i>Philadelphia Item</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The whole undertaking is a noble one, illustrative of the best period +of American art, and as such deserves the attention and support of the +public."--<i>Chicago Tribune</i>.</p> + +<hr class="W20"> + +<h2>D. APPLETON & CO., <span class="sc">Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, New York</span>.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>HEALTH PRIMERS.</h1> + +<h4>EDITED BY</h4> +<div style="margin-left:35%"> +<p class="continue">J. LANGDON DOWN, M. D., F. R. C. P.<br> +HENRY POWER, M. B., F. R. C. S.<br> +J. MORTIMER-GRANVILLE, M. D.<br> +JOHN TWEEDY, F. R. C. S.</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">Though it is of the greatest importance that books upon health should +be in the highest degree trustworthy, it is notorious that most of the +cheap and popular kind are mere crude compilations of incompetent +persons, and are often misleading and injurious. Impressed by these +considerations, several eminent medical and scientific men of London +have combined to prepare a series of Health Primers of a character that +shall be entitled to the fullest confidence. They are to be brief, +simple, and elementary in statement, filled with substantial and useful +information suitable for the guidance of grown-up people. Each primer +will be written by a gentleman specially competent to treat his +subject, while the critical supervision of the books is in the hands of +a committee who will act as editors.</p> + +<p class="normal">As these little books are produced by English authors, they are +naturally based very much upon English experience, but it matters +little whence illustrations upon such subjects are drawn, because the +essential conditions of avoiding disease and preserving health are to a +great degree everywhere the same.</p> + +<h2>VOLUMES OF THE SERIES.</h2> + +<table cellpadding="10" style="width:90%; margin-left:5%"> +<tr> +<td style="width:50%; border-right:solid black 2px; vertical-align:top">Exercise and Training. (Illustrated.)<br> +<br> +Alcohol: Its Use and Abuse.<br> +The House and its Surroundings.<br> + +Premature Death: Its Promotion or Prevention.<br> +<br> +Personal Appearances in Health and Disease. (Illustrated.)<br> + +Baths and Bathing.</td> +<td style="vertical-align:top">The Heart and its Functions.<br> +The Head.<br> +Clothing and Dress.<br> +Water.<br> +The Skin and its Troubles.<br> +Fatigue and Pain.<br> +The Ear and Hearing.<br> +The Eye and Vision.<br> +Temperature in Health and Disease.</td> +</tr></table> + + +<p class="center">In square 16mo volumes, cloth, price, 40 cents each.</p> + +<hr class="W20"> + +<p class="normal"><i>For sale by all booksellers. Any volume mailed, postpaid, to any +address in the United States, on receipt of price</i>. +<div style="margin-left:40%"> +<p style="margin-left:10em; text-indent:-10em">D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, +<span class="sc">549 & 551 Broadway, New York</span>.</p> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In Paradise, by Paul Heyse + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN PARADISE *** + +***** This file should be named 33705-h.htm or 33705-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/7/0/33705/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Vol. II + +Author: Paul Heyse + +Release Date: September 12, 2010 [EBook #33705] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN PARADISE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + +[Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://www.archive.org/details/inparadiseanove01heysgoog + + 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].] + + + + + + + COLLECTION OF FOREIGN AUTHORS, + + No. XII. + + * * * * * + + IN PARADISE. + + VOL. II. + + + + + + + COLLECTION OF FOREIGN AUTHORS. + + +I. _SAMUEL BROHL AND COMPANY_. A Novel. From the French of Victor +Cherbuliez. 1 vol., 16mo. Paper cover, 60 cents; cloth, $1.00. + +II. _GERARD'S MARRIAGE_. A Novel. From the French of Andre Theuriet. +Paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +III. _SPIRITE_. A Fantasy. From the French of Theophile Gautier. Paper +cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +IV. _THE TOWER OF PERCEMONT_. From the French of George Sand. Paper +cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +V. _META HOLDENIS_. A Novel. From the French of Victor Cherbuliez. +Paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +VI. _ROMANCES OF THE EAST_. From the French of Comte de Gobineau. Paper +cover, 60 cents; cloth, $1.00. + +VII. _RENEE AND FRANZ_ (Le Bleuet). From the French of Gustave Haller. +Paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +VIII. _MADAME GOSSELIN_. From the French of Louis Ulbach. Paper cover, +60 cents; cloth, $1.00. + +IX. _THE GODSON OF A MARQUIS_. From the French of Andre Theuriet. Paper +cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +X. _ARIADNE_. From the French of Henry Greville. Paper cover, 50 cents; +cloth, 75 cents. + +XI. _SAFAR-HADGI_; or, Russ and Turcoman. From the French of Prince +Lubomirski. Paper cover, 60 cents; cloth, $1.00. + +XII. _IN PARADISE_. From the German of Paul Heyse. 2 vols. Per vol., +paper cover, 60 cents; doth, $1.00. + +XIII. _REMORSE_. A Novel. From the French of Th. Bentzon. Paper cover, +50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + +XIV. _JEAN TETEROL'S IDEA_. A Novel. From the French of Victor +Cherbuliez. Paper cover, 60 cents; doth, $1.00. + +XV. _TALES FROM THE GERMAN OF PAUL HEYSE_. Paper cover, 60 cents; +cloth, $1.00. + +XVI. _THE DIARY OF A WOMAN_. From the French of Octave Feuillet. Paper +cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + + + + + + + IN + + PARADISE + + _A NOVEL_ + + + FROM THE GERMAN OF + PAUL HEYSE + + + + VOL. II + + + + NEW YORK + D. APPLETON AND COMPANY + 549 AND 551 BROADWAY + 1879 + + + + + + + + COPYRIGHT BY + D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, + 1878. + + + + + + IN PARADISE. + + + + + + _BOOK IV_. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +A mile or two from Starnberg, on the shore of the beautiful lake, +stands a plain country-house, whose chief ornament is a shady and +rather wild little park of beeches and cedars. This stretches from the +highway that connects Starnberg with the castle and fishermen's huts of +Possenhofen, down to the lake--a narrow strip of woodland, separated +only by picket fences from the neighboring gardens, so that a person +wandering about in it is scarcely aware of its boundaries. The +house itself is equally small and simple, and contains, besides one +good-sized apartment, with several sleeping-rooms to the right and +left, only a turret-room in the upper story, whose great north window +shows at the first glance that it is a studio. From it can be seen, +over the tops of the cedars, a bit of the lake, and beyond it the white +houses and villas of Starnberg, at the foot of the height from +whose summit the old ducal castle--now converted into a provincial +court-house--rises like a clumsy, blunt-cornered box. + +Some years before, a landscape painter had built this modest summer +nest, and had made his studies of cloud and atmosphere from this turret +window. When he died, childless, his widow had made haste to offer the +property to the one among her husband's acquaintances who passed for a +Cr[oe]sus; thus it was that the villa came into the possession of +Edward Rossel, to the great surprise and amusement of all his friends. +For our Fat Rossel was known as an incorrigible and fanatical despiser +of country life, who was never tired of ridiculing the passion of the +Munichers for going into the mountains for refreshment in summer, and +who preferred, even in the hottest weather, when none of his friends +could hold out in the city any longer, to do without society altogether +rather than to give up the comforts of his city home even for a few +weeks. + +He maintained that this sentimental staring at a mountain or woodland +landscape, this going into ecstasies over a green meadow or a bleak +snow-field, this adoration of the rosy tints of sunrise and sunset, and +all the other species of modern nature-worship, were nothing more or +less than a disguised form of commonplace, thoughtless indolence, and +as such certainly not to be condemned, particularly by so zealous a +defender of _dolce far niente_ as himself. But they must not suppose +that this particular form of idleness was the highest and worthiest of +human conditions; at the best the benefit which the mind and soul +derived from it was not greater than if one should look over a book of +pictures, or listen for hours to dance-music. Let them drivel as much +as they liked about the sublimity, beauty, and poetry of Nature, she is +and remains merely the scenery, and the stage of this world first +begins to repay the price of admission when human figures make their +appearance upon it. He did not envy the simplicity of a man who would +be willing to sit in the parquet all the evening, staring at the empty +scene, studying the woodland or mountain decorations, and listening to +the voice of the orchestra. + +To this the enthusiastic admirers of Nature always responded: It was +well known that his ill-will toward Nature arose from the fact that no +provision had been made for a comfortable sofa and a French cook at all +the beautiful spots. He never made the slightest attempt to defend +himself against these hits, but, on the contrary, he maintained in all +seriousness, and with much ingenuity, his argument that a thinking +being could derive more enjoyment of Nature, and a deeper insight into +the greatness and splendor of the creation, from a _pate de foie gras_ +than from watching a sunrise on the Rigi, with sleepy eyes, empty +stomach, and half-frozen limbs enveloped in a ridiculous blanket--a +melancholy victim, like his neighbors, to Alpine insanity. Whereupon he +would cite the ancient races who had never known such an exaggerated +estimate of landscape Nature, and yet, for all that, had possessed the +five senses in enviable purity and perfection, and had been very +intellectual besides. It is true, they had not known the celebrated +"Germanic sentiment;" but there was every probability that the decline +of the arts dated from the uprisal and spread of this epidemic, for +which reason it was particularly out of place for artists to favor this +sort of _Berghuberei_ (as the Munichers call the country fever), with +the exception, of course, of those who get their living by it--the +landscape, animal, and peasant painters--a degenerate race of whom Fat +Rossel never spoke without drawing down the corners of his mouth. + +But much as he liked to disparage German sentiment, he could not find +it in his heart to refuse the widow of the landscape-painter when she +offered him the house on the lake for a price that could hardly be +called low. Without any further inspection of the place he concluded +the bargain, and, without changing a muscle, quietly suffered the +malicious laughter which burst upon him from all sides to die out. "To +possess something," he said, calmly, "was not at all the same thing as +to be possessed by something." For that reason he would not need to +join in their raving, merely because he found himself among people who +were crazy and enraptured. And, true to his theory, whenever he was at +his villa he pursued his usual comfortable sybarite life, and +maintained that Nature had very great charms if one only looked at it +with one's back. + +He had had the house, which was built in a rustic style, most +comfortably fitted up, with a great variety of sofas, rugs, and +easy-chairs, and always had this or that friend with him as a guest; so +that even the studio above the tree-tops, in which he himself never set +foot, was not altogether lost to its proper use. Heavenly repose, he +used to say, would not be nearly as sublime if there were not mortals +in the world to bestir themselves and cultivate the field of art with +the sweat of their brows. + +Now, this year he had taken his aesthetical opposite, good Philip +Emanuel Kohle, out with him; had quartered him in the chamber to the +left of the little dining-room--he himself occupying the one on the +right--and it is almost unnecessary to add, had given him the exclusive +use of the studio. For the rest, they only met at dinner and supper, +since the morning slumbers of the host lasted too long for the +industrious guest to wait breakfast for him. Moreover, they could never +come together without getting into some discussion, which was always +welcome to Rossel, and, as he asserted, highly favorable to his +digestion at any time of the day except in the morning. The more he saw +of him the more pleasure Rossel took in this singular, self-communing +man, who, bloodless, insignificant-looking, and unsophisticated as he +seemed, bore about with him a truly royal self-respect, and the +consciousness of immeasurable joys and possessions, without for a +moment demanding that any mortal being should acknowledge his inherent +sovereign rights. + +Then, too, though he was so unassuming and so thankful for proffered +friendship, he conducted himself toward his host with perfect freedom, +for he held the most sublime doctrines in regard to the earthly goods +that were lacking in his own case, but were so richly at the disposal +of his friend. + +A little veranda, with a roof supported on wooden pillars and overgrown +with wild grape-vines, had been built out into the lake. A table and a +few garden-chairs stood upon it, and from it one could look far away +over the beautiful, unruffled water and the distant mountains. At night +it was delicious to lean over the balustrade and see the moon and stars +dancing in the waves. The nights were still warm, and the scent of the +roses was wafted over from the garden; on a day like this one could sit +in the open air until midnight. + +Fat Rossel had seated himself in an American rocking-chair, with his +back toward the lake; a narghili stood by his side, and on the table, +in a cooler, was a bottle of Rhine wine, from which he filled his own +and his friend's glass from time to time. Kohle sat opposite him, his +elbows resting on the table, his shabby black hat pulled down over his +forehead, from beneath which his eyes gleamed fixedly and earnestly out +of the shadow like those of some night-bird. They appeared to be +magically attracted by the lines of silver that furrowed the lake, and +it was only when he spoke that he slowly raised them to the level of +his friend's high, white forehead, from which the fez was pushed back. +Rossel wore his Persian dressing gown, and his silky black beard hung +picturesquely down upon his breast. Even in the moonlight Kohle looked +very shabby in comparison with him, like a dervish by the side of an +emir. The truth was, Kohle had but one coat for all times of the day +and year. + +"You may say what you like, my dear friend," said Fat Rossel, +concluding a rather long dispute about the difference in character +between the North and South Germans--he himself was from Passau and +Kohle from Erfurth--"there is one talent you people on the other side +of the Main are lacking in; you can swim excellently, but you can't lie +on your back and let yourself drift. Didn't I drag you put here to this +tiresome summer retreat because your aspect had become positively +unbearable to a flesh-painter, your skin having dried to a respectable +parchment, and you standing in danger of composing yourself into an +early grave? And now you don't do anything better out here; but consume +one yard of paper after another, while the shadows in your face grow +blacker from day to day. Why are you in such haste, my dear Kohle, to +produce things for which no one in the world is waiting?" + +Kohle's pale face never moved a muscle. He slowly drank a few drops of +wine from his glass, and then said, calmly: + +"Forbid the silkworm to spin!" + +"You forget, my dear godfather, that the worm you cite as your model +has at least the excuse that it spins silk. If you could get so far as +to do that, the thing would have a practical purpose. But your +spinning--" + +"Now you are talking again against your better convictions," +interrupted the other, coolly, "There are more than enough people +nowadays who pursue their so-called art for a practical purpose. Just +listen once when our colleagues talk about their 'interests.' One would +imagine he was at the Bourse: for this picture, five thousand gulden; +for that, ten thousand, or even twenty and twenty-five thousand; and +that a certain artist has an annual income of so and so much, and owns +several houses besides--these things make up the motive power of an +incredible number of them. Their pictures have no longer a value, but +merely a price. How to go to work and make an equal amount from the +fabrication of painted canvas, that is the pivot on which all the labor +of an artist's fancy turns, instead of steering straight for the thing +itself, as it ought by rights to do. Well, I have nothing in common +with this worm that nourishes itself by crawling about in the dust. But +what does it matter to me whether I spin silk, or only a plain thread +that delights me alone, and from which I can beat my wings and soar +away into space?" + +"You are a thousand times too good for this century of banks and +bourses, my dear enthusiast!" cried Rossel, with a sigh of honest +admiration. "But, even though you despise the golden fruit on the tree +of life, still all sorts of other things flourish there, which even the +best of men need not be ashamed to find beautiful and desireable: for +instance, fame or love, upon which you also turn your back with sublime +contempt. Your life is quite as earnest as your art, and yet you know +what Schiller says. If you go on in this way a few years longer, your +flame of life will have consumed all its wick; and the magic-lantern +pictures which the light has thrown on the dark background of your +existence will go down with you into eternal night." + +"No!" cried the other, and his yellow face lit up with a red flush. "I +do not feel this fear! _Non omnis moriar!_ Something of me will be left +behind; and though you may be right that no glory will come to me +during my life, a soft shimmer of posthumous fame will warm my bones +under the ground, of that I am certain. For better times are coming, or +else may God take pity on this wretched world, and dash it to pieces +before it becomes one vast dung-heap from which no living flower will +spring. Many a day when I have begun to lose faith, amid the +wretchedness of the present, I have repeated to myself those comforting +verses of Hoelderlin's about the future of mankind." + +"Now don't bring in your Hoelderlin as a bondsman for yourself," cried +Rossel. "To be sure, he was just as unpractical and as little suited to +the times as you; and, moreover, one of those erratic fellows who have +strayed out of the grand Greek and heathen worlds, and lost themselves +in our shallow present--an artist for art's sake, a dreamer and +ghost-seer in broad daylight. But for all that, he knew very well what +makes life worth living; and though he despised gold, and did not run +after fame very eagerly, he took love so seriously that he even lost +his reason over it. But you, my dear Philip Emanuel--" + +"Are you so certain that I am not on the straight road to it?" Kohle +interrupted, with a peculiar, half-shy, half-bashful smile. "It is +true, neither this nor that particular beautiful woman has caused me to +tremble for the little sense I possess. But the woman and the beauty +which I, being what I am--" + +He broke off, and turned round in his chair, so as to present only his +profile to his friend. + +"I don't understand you, godfather." + +"The thing is simple enough, I have never found a beautiful woman who +claimed so little of a suitor as to be willing to take up with my +insignificant self; that is to say--for I despise alms--who could +seriously be satisfied with this drab-tinted sketch of a human figure +that bears my name. And as I am too ignorant of the art of making the +best of it, and seeking out a sweetheart who shall be suited to me in +all ways and shall bear the stamp of the same manufactory, I stand but +a poor chance so far as love is concerned. You will laugh at me, +Rossel, but, in solemn earnest, the Venus of Milo would not be +beautiful enough for me." + +A short pause ensued. Then Rossel said: "If I understand you rightly, I +must confess that I don't understand you at all. Besides, your estimate +of woman is quite wrong. What you want is a husband; some one who shall +show you that she is lord and master, and not a mere puppet. Put aside +both your humility and your arrogance, and pitch in whenever you +stumble upon a cheerful life. However, do just as you see fit. Who +knows but what some time the Venus of Milo herself will take pity on +you for having passed over all lesser women-folk in order to wait for +the goddess?" + +"And what if she has already appeared to me, ay, has visited me day by +day up there above the tree-tops?" said Kohle, with a mysterious smile. + +He pointed with his hand toward the studio, whose window sparkled +softly in the starlight. + +Rossel stared at him in amazement. + +"You fear I am on the point of breaking into a divine frenzy," laughed +the little man. "But I haven't yet confounded dreams and reality. That +I have seen her, and have learned from her all sorts of things that +other mortals do not yet know, is certain. But I believe myself that I +only dreamed all this. It was on my very first morning out here. The +evening before I had been reading the _Last Centaur_. The birds woke me +very early, and then I lay for a few hours with closed eyes, and the +whole story passed before me in a continuous train." + +"What story?" + +"I am now at work sketching it, after my own fashion, against which you +will protest again. There is a cyclus of six or eight pictures--shall I +tell you the story just as I am building it up in outline? It ought +properly to be told in verse, but I am no poet. Enough, the scene opens +with a mountain-cliff somewhere or other, the Hoesselberg, let us say, +or any other mythological fastness in which a goddess could have lived +apart from the world for a few centuries. From out it steps our dear +Venus of Milo in proper person, leading by the hand a half-grown boy, +who is no less a person than the little Amor. They are both but +scantily clad, and gaze around with wondering eyes upon a world that +has greatly changed since last they saw it. A city lies before them, +with battlements and towers of strange shape standing out against the +sky. Horsemen and pedestrians are coming out of the gate, dressed in +bright-colored garments of a peculiar cut, which were nowhere in +fashion in the world when the old gods were worshiped. The sky is +clouded over, and a drizzling rain is gently falling, which forces the +lady and her little boy to seek another place of refuge, since they can +no longer find their way back to their old retreat. Yet they lack the +courage to enter the town, with its swarming mass of human beings. But +in the mountain over across the valley stands a high stone building, +from which a tower, with a beautiful chime of bells, seems to ring out +over the land an invitation for all men to draw near. It is true, this +cannot be expressed in the sketch, but then the cloister over on the +hill must have something homelike about it, so that everybody will +understand why the fugitives, standing below in the rain, under shelter +of a laurel bush, are gazing up at it with longing eyes. And now, +when the sun breaks forth again, they muster up their courage and knock +at the cloister gate. The nuns rush out at the cry their sister +gate-keeper utters when she sees this queenly woman, with the +black-eyed child of the gods, standing on the threshold, both half +naked, and with their blonde hair falling about their shoulders. Then, +too, as is natural, the nun understands no Greek, which would have +enabled her to interpret the stranger's request for hospitality; nor +can the abbess herself make out anything more as to the strangers' +origin and character. But of one thing she is certain--this is not a +strolling beggar of the usual sort. Thus, in the third picture, we see +Madame Venus sitting in the refectory seeking to still her hunger; but +the food is too coarse for her, and she tastes nothing but the cloister +wine. They offer her a coarse, woolen nun's-dress, which, however, she +scorns to wear. The only other dress they have on hand is the thin gown +belonging to a beggar who died in the cloister a short time before. +This she consents to put on; and although, here and there, her +beautiful white skin peeps through a tear in the old rags, she seems to +think this better than to be confined in the black shroud of the +sisters. Her little boy has also been provided with a shirt, and is now +being passed around from hand to hand, and lap to lap; for each of the +nuns is eager to caress him. While they are sitting thus, on the best +of terms, the priest of the place comes to have a talk with the abbess. +He suspects something wrong, and stands on the threshold, dumb with +amazement, and devours this strange beggar-woman with his eyes. But the +little rascal of a boy goes up to him, and succeeds in making his +reverence fall over head and ears in love with the strange lady, and +scatter his older sentiments for the abbess to the four winds. A fourth +sheet shows him as he strolls up and down the little cloister garden +with Madame Venus, passionately declaring his love. At the window +stands the pious mother of the convent, torn with jealousy; and it +requires little imagination to foresee that her ecclesiastical friend +has hardly turned his back before this dangerous guest is, under one +pretext or another, thrust rudely forth into the wide world again, with +her little boy--who is tired, and would have liked to sleep instead of +having to wander about in the stormy night. But a house or hut is +nowhere to be found, while, on the other hand, suspicious-looking +groups pass by them: gypsies, who cast covetous eyes at the beautiful +child; and one of them--a wicked, toothless old hag--actually catches +him by the skirts of his little gown. But, fortunately, he glides out +of her hands like an eel, and flies into the thicket, and his mother +after him: who is so lost in thought that she scarcely heeds the +danger. 'Where can all the others have gone?' is the question over +which she broods ceaselessly. + +"I don't know yet, myself, whether I shall show any more of her +adventures by the way. Every day something new occurs to me, with which +I might illustrate, both humorously and seriously, how, homeless and an +outcast, this beauty had to beg her way through this sober world of +ours. But, whenever she appeared at the door of simple and natural +beings, she needed to utter no word, and not even to stretch out her +hand. She touched the hearts of all; and every one--though here and +there with a secret shudder--gave her from his poverty as much +as he could spare. Young people, upon whom she had bestowed but a +single glance, left house, and home, and calling, and wandered after +her--through populous regions as well as through the wilderness--until, +in their dreamy blindness, they fell over steep precipices, or into +raging torrents, or came to an untimely end in one way or another. But +she herself, growing sadder and sadder, wandered along her way, and +thought of the times when the mortals who beheld her grew blissful and +happy and not wretched, and when they gave banquets in her honor, and +laid the most beautiful gifts at her feet; then she was a goddess, with +a train of followers whose numbers were incalculable. + +"Brooding in this way, she comes one evening to a celebrated pilgrims' +chapel, lying in a charming little valley, and shaded on all sides by +evergreen trees; and it is so late that no one observes her as she +enters into the empty sanctuary with her boy--who is weary, and whose +feet are sore--still holding fast to the skirts of her beggar's gown. + +"Only the eternal lamp is still burning before the altar, but the moon +shines through the arched windows, and it is as bright as day within. +The godlike woman sees a brown, wooden, life-sized figure seated on a +high throne. Two glass eyes glare upon her, and on the head flames a +golden crown; a mantle of red velvet falls about the angular shoulders, +and on her knees lies a wax child in swaddling clothes. She approaches +quite near, and touches the mantle, and plucks at the heavy folds; +whereupon the clasp on the neck of the image becomes unfastened, and +the lean, wooden body appears, looking ghastly enough. A shudder creeps +over the beautiful woman as she sees this image before her in all its +lean, worm-eaten ugliness. 'Ah!' she thinks to herself, 'this +princess's mantle will become me better than it does that old piece of +carving!' and begins to wrap herself in its heavy folds, which give +forth an odor of incense; and then she sets the crown on her head, and +asks her boy whether she pleases him. But he only blinks at her a +little, for he is tired to death. Then she takes pity on the poor +child, lifts the image from its gilded throne, and the wax infant rolls +to the ground and is dashed to pieces. She does not heed this, however, +but mounts the steps and seats herself in the chair under the canopy, +and the little Amor nestles warm in her lap, and, half covered by the +velvet mantle, falls asleep on her heavenly bosom. All around her it is +still; no sound is heard but the whirr of the bats as they fly hither +and thither under the high dome, not daring to light on the crown of +the stranger as they were accustomed to do upon the wooden image, being +frightened away by the brightness of her eyes; until at last the eyes +close, and the mother and son sleep quietly on their throne above the +altar. + +"In the early morning, even before the pilgrims who are encamped all +about the chapel have awakened, a young man comes along the road, +and, thinking no evil, enters the open portal, through which the gray +light of morning has just begun to steal. He has often seen the +wonder-working image that was worshiped here, but has never found that +it exerted any particular power upon himself. And now he merely goes in +and kneels down in a corner to let his heart commune with its God. But +as his eyes roam absently about the chapel they encounter the divine +apparition on the altar, sending a shock full of bliss and longing, +adoration and rapture, to the very depths of his heart. Just at this +moment the divine woman opens her eyes, makes a movement--which also +wakes the boy--and has to think a little before she can remember where +she is and how she came there. Her look falls upon the youth, who +stands there gazing up at her, looking so handsome and earnest, and as +if he were turned into a statue. She smiles graciously upon him, and +moves her hand in token of greeting. Then a holy dread overcomes him, +so that he flies from the chapel, and it is only when he is alone in +the solitary wood that he recalls what he has seen, and realizes what a +miracle has been revealed to him. And immediately the yearning comes +back to him. Like a drunken man he staggers back to the chapel, where +he finds the pilgrims already at their first mass. But the marvelously +beautiful lady with the boy has vanished; the wooden Madonna is again +enthroned under the baldachuin, and even a wax child lies upon her lap, +for the priests have supplied the place of the broken one by another. +Everything is in its old place, only the crown sits a little aslant on +the brown, wooden head, for the sacristan has not succeeded in +repairing the mysterious destruction any better. But the youth turns +his steps homeward, and bears about with him, through his whole life, +the after-glow of this wonderful apparition; striving always to +represent, to his fellowmen who had not beheld it with their own eyes, +how she had looked upon him--at first earnestly and dreamily, and then +with a winning smile--and how the boy, with his wondering gaze, had +illuminated everything about him, as if with balls of fire. And in his +efforts to do this--for he was an artist--he has attained to greater +and greater power and influence over his fellow-men, and each time has +succeeded better in catching the face; and that is the secret which can +be found in no history of art--the reason why this young Raphael has +become the greatest of all painters, and his picture of the Madonna +surpasses all others in beauty and in power." + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + +"By all the good spirits, but you are a poet!" cried Rossel, and he +sprang up with so unusual an alacrity that his red fez slipped off his +head. + +"A poet!" responded his modest friend, with a sad smile. "There, you +see how low we have sunken nowadays. If it ever occurs to one of us to +let any idea enter his head that goes beyond a whistling shoemaker's +apprentice, or some celebrated historical event, or a bathing nymph, he +must immediately hear himself scouted as a poet. Those old fellows like +Duerer, Holbein, Mantegna, and the rest, were left unmolested to spin +into fables whatever struck them as beautiful or odd. But, nowadays, +the doctrine of the division of labor is the panacea for all things; +and if a poor fool of a painter or draughtsman works out for himself +anything which a poet could by any possibility put into verse, people +immediately come running up with Lessing's 'Laokoon'--which, by the +way, no one thinks of reading nowadays--and prove that in this case all +bounds have been overstepped. If a poor devil of an artist has a fancy +for poetry, why doesn't he go to work and illustrate? After all, it is +a trade that supports its man, and one who follows it can be a +thorough-going realist, and can easily guard himself against all danger +of infection from poetry. But an arrogant wight of an idealist, whom +the world refuses to keep warm, and who, therefore, must take care not +to let the sacred fire go out on the hearth of his art--" + +"You are getting warm without cause, my dear Kohle!" interposed the +other. "Good heavens! it is indeed a breadless art, that of the poet, +but a deadly sin it certainly is not; and I, for my part, could almost +envy you for having such ideas as those you have just been telling me. +I'll tell you what--finish your plans, and then we will both of us +paint this beautiful story of Dame Venus inside there on the wall of +our dining-room. The devil must be in it, if we don't succeed in +producing something that will throw the Casa Bartoldi deep into the +shade." + +He knew when he said this what a great proposal he had let fall upon +the listening soul of his friend. + +Kohle, like all art apostles of his stamp, despised easel and oil +painting, as it is usually practised. On the other hand, the great aim +of his longing and ambition was to be able, just for once, to wield his +fresco brush to his heart's content on a wall a hundred feet long; and +his friends were fond of plaguing him about a wish that had once +escaped him--"My life for a bare wall!" Heretofore no one had been +willing to entrust him with a square yard of his house, or even of his +garden, for this purpose. And now, suddenly, he had only to put forth +his hand, and see his greatest desire for monumental art-creation +fulfilled. + +At first he could not believe in such overwhelming good-fortune. But +when the look of glad surprise and trembling doubt which he cast upon +his host encountered a perfectly serious face, he could no longer hold +himself in his chair. He sprang to his feet, threw his shabby black hat +high into the air, and, with outstretched arms and glowing face, +prepared to throw himself upon his friend, who was slowly strolling +back and forth. "Brother!" he cried, in a half-stifled voice, "this-- +this--" But Rossel suddenly stood still and made a motion with his +hand, which checked the enthusiast in the very height of his wild +excitement. + +The remembrance of a similar moment, when his heart had overflowed +toward his friend, and he had been upon the verge of formally offering +him "good-comradeship," came back to him with a rude shock. Then the +word had not yet passed his lips, when Rossel, at the very same moment, +though apparently without intention, had begun to speak of his aversion +to the display of tenderness among men, and had frightened away this +outburst of brotherly affection. And could it be that even now the ice +was not to be broken between them, and that this fulfillment of the +dearest wish of his life was nothing but the favor of a gracious +patron, a whim on the part of the rich host toward the poor devil who +sat at his hospitable table? His proud, sensitive soul was just on the +point of revolting against this, when from afar off a sound struck upon +his ear, which, as he instantly perceived, had been heard by Edward +sooner than by him, and which had been the cause of his gesture of +repulse. The soft notes of a flute came wafted to them over the lake, +nearer and nearer to the spot on the bank where Rossel's villa stood. + +"It is he!" said Rossel. "Even the peace of night is not so sacred as +to guard defenseless beings from the attacks of this romantic amateur. +Look here, Kohle, see how the boat is just floating out of the shadow +into the silvery path of the moon--Rosebud stands erect in the centre, +like Lohengrin; and that tall figure at the tiller is undoubtedly +Elfinger's high-mightiness--they are making straight for our +balcony--well, let the will of the gods be done!" + +The notes of the flute died away in a melting trill, and immediately +afterward Rosenbusch sprang ashore. "_Salem aleikum!_" he cried, waving +his hat. "We make our attack from the side of the lake, obeying +necessity and not our own desire, for a mouse-hole where two travelers +might lay their heads for the night couldn't be had in Starnberg for +all the gold of California. Saturday and this beautiful weather have +lured half Munich out there. I immediately thought of you, old boy, and +told Elfinger, who thought it would be presumptuous for us to force +ourselves on you without a special invitation, that, in addition to all +sorts of oriental qualities which are hateful to me, you also possessed +three most estimable ones--namely, a number of superfluous divans, +excellent coffee, and a spirit of hospitality worthy of a Bedouin. +Consequently, that, unless your shady roof chanced to be sheltering a +few odalisques who had already taken possession of all the couches, you +would not turn us away from your threshold. At the worst, it won't be +any great misfortune to two jolly juveniles like ourselves to pass a +night, just for once, on the floor of a fishing-boat. + + 'Upon the laughing wave below, + The stars are mirrored bright; + The mighty heights that frown around + Drink in the mists of night,'" + +he sang, to an air of his own composing, his eyes turned upon the +mountains that lay hazy in the distance. + +"You are welcome to my poor roof," responded Rossel, with gravity, +cordially shaking hands with the actor, whom he greatly esteemed, and +whose modesty caused him to hang back a little. "All the divans I +possess stand at your service; and of blankets, too, there is no lack. +I only hope, for your sake, that you have already satisfied the grosser +wants of the body. Our daily supply of provisions is exhausted, and +there is no attendant spirit at hand whom I could send to the neighbors +in quest of aid. I have only old Katie out here, and she--" + +"Does she still live, that venerable virgin with the silver locks, who +thinks how she might have had children, and grandchildren, and shakes +her head?" cried the battle-painter. "Come, Elfinger, it behooves us to +go and offer our homage to the lady and mistress of the house." + +"You will have to curb your impatience until morning, my dear Rosebud; +the old woman has taken it into her head to relieve the loneliness of +the long winter out here on the lake by making _Enzian schnapps_, and +diligently devotes herself the whole summer long to the consumption of +her own manufacture, so that she is good for nothing after eight +o'clock. The most tender flute-serenade would not wake her from her +deathlike Enzian sleep. Were it not that she is reasonably sober during +the day, is a good cook, and is as faithful as an old dog, I would have +sent her to the hospital long ago." + +In the mean time, Rosenbusch had paid off and sent away the boatman, +whom he never spoke of except as the "Fergen," and now rushed up the +steps to the balcony, where, with a merry jodel he threw himself into a +chair, and drank the health of the others from Kohle's half-filled +glass. + + "'Well for the rich and happy house, + That counts such gift but small!'" + +he cried. "Long life to you, dear _Westoestlicher_. Truly, Rossel, there +are moments when I acknowledge and honor the old proverb, 'Wisdom is +good, especially with an inheritance.' If I could call a spot of earth +like this mine, I myself would try to be as wise as you, and no longer +assist at the decline of modern art. But no; after all, I couldn't +stand doing nothing but feeding my white-mice and giving myself up to +intellectual laziness. However, enough of this. Out here is truce and +neutral territory, and I know what I owe to hospitality." + +"Since you began it yourself," said Rossel, with a smile, "I have a +single favor to ask of you. I have a number of song-birds in my garden, +and I am afraid you will drive them from me if you give a loose rein to +your baleful passion for music. They will acknowledge your superior +genius, and shrink from competition. If you positively must play, row +out upon the lake. There is a southwest wind which will waft the +strains across to the castle over opposite, where they will do no +harm." + +"So be it," responded the battle-painter, with great seriousness; +"though, in any case, we shan't burden you with our presence very long. +For, to-morrow--" He broke off, for Elfinger gave him a warning look. +In the meanwhile, Kohle had hastened down into the cellar, and now +returned with a few slim bottles and the wine-cooler, which he had +filled afresh with ice. + +He had not yet spoken a word; but his whole face beamed with an inner +content such as he seldom exhibited. The thought of the bare walls +inspired him as the happiness of a secret love does others. Meantime, +Elfinger had descended again to the bank, from which a little path led +to a bathing-house. Soon his friends who had remained behind saw him +swim out into the lake, his black, curly bead rising out of the silver +path of the moonlight, "like the head of the Baptist on Herodias's +charger," said Koble. "Except that he feels himself much better off +than that poor devil," remarked Rosenbusch, who was comfortably +drinking and smoking. "You must know that we wouldn't have had the +absurd idea of making a pilgrimage out here on Saturday evening, in +company with the whole population of Munich, had not our sweethearts +shown us the way. Papa Glovemaker has permitted them to visit a Frau +godmother, who is staying in Starnberg for the summer. We had no sooner +gotten wind of this, through a trusty go-between, than we very +naturally made up our minds that we could find no better place to spend +to-morrow than here. Of course, we have taken care to make arrangements +for meeting to-morrow. We are going to take you with us as guard of +honor, Philip Emanuel. It is to be hoped you have no objections to the +plan?" + +"Not the slightest," responded Koble, good-naturedly. "Of course, the +Frau godmother will fall to my share." + +"And how about Elfinger's sweetheart? Is that little bride of heaven +also in the conspiracy?" asked Fat Rossel, who was sitting in his +rocking-chair again. + +"Nothing certain is known about that; but, at all events, our friend +builds great hopes upon this favor of fortune, which will permit him, +for the first time, to pass several hours in the company of his +darling. Only think; we also succeeded, a short time since, in finding +out what it really is that has disgusted the good child with the world, +and that is driving her into the convent by main force." + +He cast a look upon the lake, as though he were measuring the distance +between the balcony where they sat and the swimmer in the water. + +"If you will keep close about it, I will tell you the secret," he +continued, in a low voice. "After all, it only does honor to the poor +girl that she wants to take the sins of others on her own shoulders, +and do penance for them all her life long. Papa Glove-maker, you must +know, appears to have been by no means such a very long-faced character +in his youth, but, on the contrary, to have led a pretty wild life, and +to have been mixed up in scrapes that were not always of a particularly +edifying nature. However, he married young, and soon after this event +there came a mission of Jesuits to the city, or to some place in the +neighborhood--on this subject the records are silent--and the young +sinner, who had already had ample opportunity for repentance in his +marriage relations, allowed his conscience to be shaken to such an +extent by the priests that he suddenly took a fancy to retire almost +entirely from the world, neglected his business so that he almost +reduced himself to beggary, and practically separated himself from his +young wife. He had long lost her love, for which he did not seem to +care; but this was not the worst. Devoted to his vigils and penances, +he is said to have known of and condoned an intimacy which she soon +after formed with a young landscape-painter, who lived for a long time +in the house. The birth of a little girl, who was named Fanny, ended +this relation; but, even then, the friendship shown for the artist did +not at once cease. He stood as the child's godfather; and every year +afterward he continued, although he had removed from Munich, to make a +visit to the house on little Fanny's birthday. It was soon obvious, +however, that Herr Glove-maker's views had changed; that he viewed him +with less and less favor each time that he appeared; and that a crisis +was approaching. And so, on one of these birthdays, when the girl had +already begun to think for herself a little, there must have been a +scene between her three elders, which was overheard by the unfortunate +young creature. A sudden revelation came upon her, that terribly +darkened and shattered her innocent spirit, so that she grew +introspective and melancholy--and perhaps she had some spiritual +adviser who was always giving her new fancies, and painting the terrors +of the hereafter in stronger colors. Nanny, our informant says, knows +nothing of the whole horrible business; and Fanny used to be just such +another merry creature. If this melancholy idea did not so weigh upon +her--that she must do penance for the sins of her parents--she would be +as healthy, bright, and warm-blooded as her younger sister. Since +Elfinger has learned this family secret, he has gained new hopes of +turning this little bride of heaven back from the cloister. But it will +hardly succeed; and if he doesn't use heroic remedies--" + +He didn't finish his sentence; for just then his friend, refreshed by +his bath, came running up the steps; and now, with an obvious sense of +comfort, but with the rather quiet manners habitual to him, gave +himself up to the enjoyment of the wine. Kohle, too, spoke only in +monosyllables, so that Rosenbusch and Rossel had to bear the burden of +the conversation. Moreover, as the day had been hot, and as they all +really needed rest, the bottles were soon emptied, and the airy spot on +the bank of the lake deserted. + +Upon entering the house, Kohle's first care was to light the candles. +Then he dragged out two woolen blankets from a wardrobe, where all +sorts of things were stored. While occupied with this work he allowed +his eyes to wander stealthily and tenderly over the long wall of the +little room, as if he were measuring off and taking possession of the +site of his future deeds. Two low, well-stuffed divans stood against +these walls, an old table occupied the centre, and over it hung a +chandelier with polished brass branches. The broad glass door of the +hall opened upon the lake, and no sound penetrated into this airy room +but the gentle murmur of the splashing waves, and a soft snoring from +the chamber near the kitchen where old Katie had her bed. After all the +doors had been shut and locked, even this nocturnal music was heard no +longer. + +The two new guests had just stretched themselves out on their couches, +by way of experiment, and had wished their host good-night with a great +deal of laughter and joking, when they were roused again by a distant +ring at the park gate. Kohle hastily seized a light and ran out. Five +minutes after they heard him return; he was talking with some one whose +voice they none of them seemed to recognize. But, the moment they +entered, the three shouted as with one voice: + +"Our baron! And so late at night!" + +They had recognized Felix more from his figure and bearing than from +his features, though the light of the candle fell full upon his face; +for it looked wan and transformed as if by some severe illness. His +eyes, roaming restlessly about the room, had a piercing, feverish +glitter, so that his friends stormed him with questions as to whether +he was sick or had seen a ghost on his way through the wood. + +He gave a forced laugh, passed his hand across his cold forehead, on +which great beads of perspiration were standing, and declared that he +had never felt better in his life, and that he was as proof against +ghosts as the babe unborn. In spite of all this, there was something +constrained in all his movements, and his voice sounded hoarse and +unnatural, as it often does when a person is laboring under great +excitement. + +He told how he too had been unable to find quarters in Starnberg, and +had left the horse on which he had ridden out at the tavern, in order +to make the remaining half-hour's journey to Rossel's country-seat on +foot; and that, in trying to follow the rather confused directions +which had been given him, he had gone a good deal out of his way. It +was this that had reduced him to his present demoralized condition. But +he would not disturb them on any account, and only asked for a drop of +water and a corner where he could stretch himself out, for he was as +tired as a dog, and would be content even with a dog's kennel. + +He drained off a large glass of wine at a single swallow, then, with +averted face, shook hands with his friends and made a few forced +jokes--something he never thought of doing when he was quite himself. +He flatly refused to accept of Kohle's offer to give up his bed to him, +but gladly consented to be led into the studio, where, by the aid of a +few blankets, a deer-skin, and a shawl, they succeeded in transforming +an old garden-bench into a very respectable bed. Then, without even +waiting for the others who had escorted him up-stairs to leave the +room, he threw himself down upon the couch--"already half in the other +world," he tried to say, jestingly, as he nodded good-night to the +others. + +Shaking their heads, his friends left him. It was evident that this +late visit could be explained by no such innocent circumstances as had +occasioned that of the two who had preceded him. But, while they were +still standing outside the door exchanging remarks about Felix's +singular condition, they learned from the deep breathing within that +the object of their anxiety had fallen fast asleep. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + +The clear song of the birds awoke him while it was still in the gray of +the morning, and not a sound could be heard in the house below. + +The tops of the pine-trees, seen through the broad studio-window, +recalled to his mind where he was, and how and why he had strayed +thither. + +In the afternoon he had met the lieutenant, whom he had not seen before +for a week, although he had zealously frequented all the places where +Schnetz was generally to be found. He knew that Irene had left the city +with her uncle. In his dull consternation upon learning this in reply +to an indirect inquiry at the hotel, he had not even inquired in which +direction they had gone. She had fled from him, that he knew; his mere +silent presence sufficed to frighten her away, to make the town in +which he lived distasteful to her. Whither had she fled? To Italy, as +she had at first planned?--to the east or to the west? What did it +matter to him, since he dared not follow her? Nor did he really care to +make any inquiries of Schnetz, who undoubtedly knew all about it. And +yet he was eager to see the only human being who might possibly give +him news of her. And when at last he encountered him in the street, +after a day of depression and brooding, on which he had not even seen +Jansen and had neglected his work, his heart beat so fast and his face +flushed so deeply that it seemed as if his unsuspecting friend could +not help reading all his secret thoughts in his eyes. And it really did +so happen that the very first words which Schnetz ejaculated, in reply +to Felix's inquiry as to how he was, had reference to the fugitives. + +Things went wretchedly with him. He had hoped to be rid of his serfdom +and slavery to woman, now that his whimsical little princess had gone +off with her servile valet of an uncle! Vain idea! The chain which held +him now reached as far as Starnberg, and only an hour ago he had felt +himself jerked by it in anything but a gentle way. A note from the +uncle summoned him to come out in all haste on the following day. +Visits had been announced for Sunday from all manner of youthful _haute +voles_, noble cousins and their followers; but the old lion-hunter had +previously accepted an invitation to a shooting-match at Seefeld, which +it would be quite impossible for him to escape, and his niece, poor +child, who, for some reason or other, was daily growing paler and more +nervous in the country air, felt herself quite incapable of doing the +honors of the little villa without the assistance of a zealous and +active cavalier. Consequently, Schnetz was her last hope, and he could +assure him of Irene's kindest welcome, and of his own eternal gratitude +if he would come and be her knight! "You will readily understand, my +dear baron," concluded the grumbling cavalier, slapping his high boots +with his riding-whip, "that there are moral impossibilities which +prevent the slave from breaking his chain. But to the hundred times I +have already cursed this Algerian camp-friendship, I have added to-day +the one hundred and first. It is true, I certainly have a certain +curiosity to see how this 'kindest welcome' of her proud little +highness will seem. You know I have a secret weakness for this gracious +little tyrant of mine. But it is asking a great deal of me to expect +that I should bear with her whims and humors for a whole day. Pity me, +happy man! you who are free from all service, and receive no other +orders than those which come from the genius of art." + +His speech had been long enough for Felix to think of some appropriate +and sufficiently cheerful answer. + +"You are terribly mistaken, my dear friend," he said, "if you think I +wear no chain. Art, do you say? She is a gracious mistress to him alone +who has gotten so far as to be able to rule her while he serves her. +But, as for a wretched beginner and blunderer to whom she has not yet +given her little finger to kiss, no raftsman or woodsman in the +mountains groans under such a load. A thousand times I ask myself +whether it was not, after all, a piece of folly for me, at my time of +life, to join the scholars who are learning her first A B C; and +whether I shall not discover to my horror, after the lapse of many +weary years, that all this precious time has been thrown out of the +window of Jansen's studio. It is certainly large enough for such a +purpose." + +"Hm!" growled the tall lieutenant. "You are singing a bad song to an +old tune. Nowhere do you come across existences that are failures, more +frequently than in a city of art like this. It's so damned seductive to +go singing-- + + 'Free, ah, free, is the life we lead, + A life filled full of pleasure--' + +and yet, what you say is quite right--he who cannot rule art, him she +oppresses; and that to a worse degree than does any duty of life. You, +as I know you, don't seem to me quite in your proper place. Both of us +ought to have come into the world a few centuries earlier; and then I, +as a leader of bandits, after the manner of Castruccio Castracani, and +you, as a politician of the old energetic and unscrupulous stamp, +might not have cut a bad figure. But now, all we can do is to help +ourselves as best we can. Now let me tell you something. You have been +over-excited, and have lost your spirits. Come out to the lake with me +to-morrow. I will introduce you to her young highness. Perhaps you will +fall in love with her and find favor in her eyes, and then our little +princess and both of us would be made happy at one stroke." + +Felix shook his head with increasing embarrassment. "He was not the man +for such company," he said, in a stammering voice; "Schnetz would get +little honor by introducing him. He couldn't swear that he wouldn't go +out to the lake. He certainly did stand in great need of a change of +air. But, unfortunately, he could be of no use to him in entertaining +his countesses, baronesses, and young nobles." + +With these words they had shaken hands and parted. + +But no sooner did Felix find himself alone than his passionate grief +and his old yearning came upon him with such force that he threw all +his resolutions to the winds, and thought only how he could be near her +once more. The evening train did not leave for some hours. It would be +impossible to wait for it, or to pass the intervening time in any +civilized fashion. He hired a horse and mounted, dressed just as he +was, and left the town at a sharp trot, without giving notice at his +own house of his intended absence, or even taking leave of Jansen. + +His horse was none of the best, and was somewhat tired from having been +in use before that day. Consequently he was soon obliged to moderate +his speed, and had only accomplished half his journey, when the train +whirled by him. But he was not at all sorry to have to take the last +part of the way at a walk. The nearer he approached his goal, the more +conflicting became his feelings. What object had he in coming here at +all? He knew that she avoided him, and that she would unquestionably +leave this retreat too, if she should form but the slightest suspicion +that he was following her, and seeking an opportunity to meet her +again. And in what a light must he himself, his pride, his sense of +delicacy, appear to her, unless he carefully avoided even the +appearance of trying to intrude himself upon the peace that she had won +with such difficulty? If she could do without him, ought he to show how +painful it still was for him to do without her? + +He reined up his horse so sharply that the animal stood still, +trembling. All around him were solitary woods, and the road that ran by +the side of the railway was utterly deserted. He sprang off, threw the +reins over the horse's neck, and threw himself on his back at the side +of road, on the thick, dry moss, which sent out a cloud of fragrant +dust into the heated air. + +Here he lay; and if his manliness had not forbidden him, he would have +liked nothing better than to relieve himself by a flood of burning +tears, like a helpless, unhappy child, to whom some one has shown its +favorite plaything and then taken it away again. Instead of yielding to +such girlish weakness, he strengthened and stilled his rebellious heart +with that defiant spirit which is the man's form of this youthful +feebleness. He gnashed his teeth, cast threatening glances up at the +tree-tops and the blue dome of the sky, and behaved himself generally +in a way so boyish, and so unworthy of the great statesman that Schnetz +believed he had detected in him, that even his horse, hearing his wild, +disconnected words, and the strange gnashing and raving by which they +were accompanied, looked up in amazement from his grazing, and turned +his head toward his rider with an expression of silent pity. "Is it any +fault of mine," he raved to himself, "that a ridiculous accident has +brought her to the very spot where I was on the point of beginning a +new life? Must I fly before her, like a fool, the moment this absurd +fate brings her near me again? The world is surely large enough for us +both; and yet now, though she knows why I have pitched my tent in this +particular place, she persists in haunting the immediate neighborhood, +so that I can't take a step outside the gates without running the risk +of meeting her. What am I saying? Why, I do not dare even to go out to +the lake! I am to be cut off from light and air, and left to smother in +the Munich dust! In other words, I am to condemn myself to perpetual +imprisonment for a crime of which I do not even repent. No! I owe +something to myself as well. Why shouldn't I show that I have put the +whole affair behind me once for all, and go on living as though certain +eyes were no longer in the world? Cannot one person ignore another? +Shall it last forever, this fear of ghosts? As if one couldn't go +around a street corner without meeting a dead and buried love!"--he +sprang up suddenly, smoothed his hair, and brushed the dust from his +coat--"and though her eyes should look down upon me from every window +in Starnberg," he cried, "I will ride through the town and laugh at all +these apparitions!" + +So he swung himself into the saddle again, and rode over the few +remaining miles of his journey at a sharp trot. When at last a blue +strip of the lake sparkled through the tree-tops, and the houses of the +town came into view, a gray, starlit twilight had already settled down; +so that, after all, he could ride through the streets between the rows +of lighted windows, without any fear of being recognized. + +Nevertheless, it was almost a relief to him when, upon inquiry at all +of the three inns, he was told that no room could be had for the night. +He thought at once of Rossel's little country house, of which he had +often heard his friends speak. As the way was described to him, he +could still arrive there in good time, and before his friends had gone +to bed. So he contented himself with a hasty drink after his sultry +ride through the woods, handed over his animal to a hostler, who +promised to take good care of it, and got under way again. + +He had not had the heart to inquire for Irene's villa, though he had +thought for a moment of doing so--only that he might avoid it all the +more surely. But he did not allow her name to pass his lips. Clinching +his teeth, he went his way, past the garden fences and walls. The warm +night had enticed every living thing out into the open air. Under the +vines and in the summer-houses, on garden-benches and on balconies, old +and young sat, walked, and stood; and here and there one could hear the +clear but subdued sound of girlish laughter, as it suddenly burst forth +from whispered conversations or deep silence, like a rocket that starts +instantly from a humble fire-work into the dark heaven of night. Some +one was playing a cither, to which a man's voice sang a low +accompaniment; from another house a full soprano voice sang Schubert's +Erl King, to the loud music of a piano; and from yet another was heard +a violin concerto, with a clarionet _obbligato_. All harmonized as well +as the different voices of the birds in the woods, for the sounds were +softened and melted into one another by the sultry night air. +Involuntarily Felix stood still and listened. + +As chance would have it, his eyes rested on a little house from which +came no sound of song or music, and which was overhung with exquisite +roses, while tall hollyhocks nodded over the garden-fence. In the upper +story was a room with a balcony, lit by a hanging-lamp. The door stood +wide open, but the brightly-lighted apartment beyond seemed to be quite +empty. Of a sudden, just as the clarionet was playing a solo, a shadow +entered the bright frame made by the balcony door. A slender, womanly +figure stood on the threshold for a moment, then stepped out in full +view and leaned over the balustrade. Her features could not be clearly +distinguished from the street, and the watcher below still hesitated to +believe his beating heart. But now the shadow moved, and turned its +face toward the bright door, as if some one in the room had called to +it. For a minute or two the outline of a clear-cut profile could be +seen sharply defined against the background of light. It was she!--his +beating heart had known her sooner than his open eyes; and now it beat +all the more wildly as the apparition disappeared into the room again +as quickly as it had come. So this was the place! Now he knew it--now +he could mark the house well, so that he might always carefully avoid +it by a wide _detour_. He trembled all over, and his feet would not at +first obey him, when he tried to tear himself away and continue his +wandering. In his excitement he missed the road that runs along by the +lake, and followed the side-road leading to the Seven Springs. It was +only when he reached that spot, and found himself in the midst of a +swampy thicket, that he became aware of his mistake. Then, with the +stars for his guides, he began to search his way back again. But once +more he lost the right track; the sweat rolled down his forehead. With +laboring breast he forced his way through the thick underbrush; and, +panting like a wounded stag, succeeded in reaching a glade from which +he could see the railway, and over beyond it, through the tree-tops, +the broad surface of the lake, glittering in the moonlight. A signalman +whom he met put him upon his way again. He saw that he had already gone +far beyond his goal, and his anxiety lest he should disturb his friend +by coming to him at so late an hour, quickened his steps. Thus it was +that he reached Edward's in the state in which we have already seen +him. + +But the strength of his youth pulled him through all his troubles +overnight. He awoke in the morning with all his senses refreshed from +those bright dreams with which the soul, healing silently as her wont +is, had striven to restore her shaken balance. Nor did this bright +cheerfulness of the morning desert him when he was fully awake, and was +forced to admit that matters stood no better with him to-day than on +the day before. A feeling of courage made the blood course warmly +through his veins: a secret delight in life, and a quiet confidence +which he could not altogether destroy, and which was very different +from the boastful courage of the previous day. He opened the window and +stood for a long time breathings in the fresh fragrance of the firs. +Then he stepped before the easel, on which stood Kohle's cartoon +representing the first scene of his legend of Venus, a plan of which, +sketched in hasty outlines on a long roll of paper, lay near by. Felix +was enough of an artist to appreciate this singular conception, even +without an explanation; and, in his present romantic and excited state, +it attracted him wonderfully. He seated himself on the wooden stool +before the easel, and became absorbed in the contemplation of this +first sheet, which was now almost completed. The beautiful goddess, +leading her boy by the hand, had stepped half out of the shadow of a +wild and overgrown gorge, and was gazing wonderingly toward a city +which could be seen perched on a distant height, with Gothic +battlements and towers. A river, which wound around the base of the +hill, was spanned by a quaint old bridge, over which moved a long train +of merchants with heavily-laden wagons, accompanied by a few travelers. +A little further in the background was a shepherd-boy, stretched out on +the grass by the side of his flock, playing a reed pipe and gazing +dreamily up at the fleecy summer clouds. The figures were sharply and +almost harshly outlined, but there was a certain dignity in the whole, +that aided in heightening the fantastic charm of the conception, and +in holding the thoughts of the observer aloof from the realities of +every-day life. + +Felix was still lost--as if in a second morning dream--in the +contemplation of this fairy world, when he heard a cautious step creep +up the narrow stairway, and stop at his door. He cried "come in," and +could not help laughing when he caught sight of Kohle's honest face +peering in with an expression as if he feared to find a man in the last +stages of illness. Upon his informing his amazed friend that he was in +excellent health, and that the picture of the goddess had probably +worked this miracle, the artist's features lighted up, and he began, +bright morning as it was, to speak of his work in the same spirit of +high-strung enthusiasm in which he had fallen asleep the night before, +and to give his explanation of the sketches, which, when unrolled, +extended across the whole breadth of the studio. Then the fact that +Rossel had given him leave to make use of the walls of the dining-room, +and had even offered to assist in the painting, had to be communicated +to Felix. Then, at last, he told him about the others; how they had +risen long ago, and, without waiting for breakfast, had started off for +Starnberg--Rosenbusch on matters connected with their love affairs, +and in order to make arrangements for effecting a meeting in the +afternoon; while Elfinger, who was passionately fond of fishing, had +gone to a trout-brook near the Seven Springs, with whose owner he was +acquainted--for he insisted upon contributing his share to the day's +dinner. The master of the house himself never made his appearance +before nine or ten o'clock. He was in the habit of taking his +breakfast, and of smoking and reading, in bed; declaring that even then +the day was much too long for him not to shorten it by any legitimate +stratagem. + +But Kohle had not yet finished what he was saying when the stairs once +more began to creak, this time under a slower and more ponderous tread. +Contrary to his usual habit, Fat Rossel had turned out early, in order +to make inquiries concerning Felix's condition. He had not even taken +time to complete his toilet, but came in his dressing-gown, his bare +feet thrust into his slippers. He was perceptibly relieved when Felix, +looking fresh and bright again, advanced to meet him and shook his +hand, really touched that his anxious friend should have sacrificed his +comfort for his sake. + +"There are good fellows still left in this wretched world," he cried; +"and I should be a villain indeed to make their lives uncomfortable. It +is true, my friends, all within and about me is not just as it should +be. But whoever shall see me drawing down the corners of my mouth and +making a long face to-day, let him call me a Nazarene and break his +maulstick over my back." + +Rossel nodded his head thoughtfully at these words, for this sudden +change in the young man's mood did not appear quite natural to him; +however, he did not say a word, but seated himself on the stool before +the easel--having first laid a pillow on it--in order to study Kohle's +designs. + +"Hm--hm! So--so! Fine--fine!" were the only critical remarks which he +uttered for the space of a quarter of an hour. Then, however, he began +to go into details, and, as he did so, all the strange traits of his +nature came into view. + +For, just as his own fancy was inexhaustible in raising buds that never +bore fruit, so too, in regard to the works of others, he had gradually +lost the faculty of patiently following the slow maturing of a thought +in accordance with the inherent laws and quiet workings of Nature. For +young people especially he was dangerous, for he first excited them +powerfully, and led them in a perfect reel through a world of artistic +problems; and then, the moment they went to work in earnest upon a +particular task, his keenness and superior knowledge disgusted them +with the subject they had taken up, by demonstrating to them a variety +of other ways and methods in which the theme might be treated even more +happily. Then, if they decided to destroy what they had begun, and +begin anew according to one of the ways suggested, they found +themselves no better off than before, since the one decisive and final +solution always receded farther and farther into unattainable distance. +In this way they lost all disposition to strike out boldly and +energetically; became hair-splitters and theorists after the style of +their master; or, if they did not possess enough mind or money for +this, they gave themselves up in their desperation to mere mechanical +work, which they pursued in secret, taking good care never to knock +again at the door of their former oracle with a question about art. + +"There is no one who sees into a picture, or out of it again, as +quickly as Rossel," Jansen had once said, and Felix now had an +unusually good opportunity of observing the force of this remark, in +the manner in which Rossel examined Kohle's designs. For since, in this +case, the critic was himself to lend a helping hand, his fancy was even +more active than usual in rearranging what had been done, in order that +it might, as far as possible, appropriate the picture to itself. How +the light effect was to be arranged for every picture, what problems of +color would enter into the question, how Giorgione would probably have +composed the background, and what effect it would have if, for +instance, the whole first scene should be transposed from broad day +into evening twilight--all these questions were weighed in the most +serious fashion; while all the while the position of the figures, the +way in which the space was divided, and the landscape, were so +mercilessly changed about, that finally the new conception of the work +had scarcely anything in common with the original plan, except the mere +subject. + +Nor was even this last point to be regarded as definitely settled, but +was merely to be looked upon as a basis for further consideration. But, +while Kohle's face kept growing longer and more anxious, that of his +fellow-laborer beamed with growing satisfaction. Every muscle in it +quivered with intellectual life, and his black eyes flashed with +genuine enthusiasm from beneath his white forehead. When finally he +rose, he extended his arms above his head and cried: + +"There is nothing finer than a good work which has been taken hold of +at the right end. You shall see, Kohle--the thing will go. I take such +pleasure in it that I would begin to-day--at once, if it didn't happen +to be Sunday and I had not, before all things, to play the attentive +host. However, you will have quite enough to do in making the changes +in the cartoon. In the meanwhile I will assist my household dragon in +composing a bill of fare--a thing which will take more thought, let me +tell you, than even our dame Venus." + +As soon as he had gone the two looked at one another, and Felix could +not help bursting into a loud laugh, in which poor Kohle joined--at +least with a pathetic smile. + +"Now you see what comes of being too wise about anything," said he, +regarding his sketch with a sigh. "When, in my stupidity, I went +straight on following my _certa idea_, or even my nose, something +came of it at all events. But after these criticisms, which were, +by-the-way, all excellent and capital and appropriate, I am afraid the +whole thing will go to the deuce again! If it were not for the +beautiful wall down stairs I would tell him candidly that so ill-mated +a span--as ill-matched as an ox and horse--would never drag the plough +very far. Better to let the lean horse do the work alone, even though +the furrows should not be quite so smooth. Alas, alas, alas! My poor +dame Venus!" + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + +Nevertheless, the creative instinct was too powerful in him to let his +depression at the interference of this eternal waverer affect him long, +or sap his strength. In the very midst of his upbraiding, after he had +angrily thrown the first sheet into a corner, he took a second frame of +card-board, and began to sketch the scene where the homeless beauty, +with her naked boy, is standing at the gate of the convent, surrounded +by the staring nuns, whose looks and attitudes express doubt and +suspicion. Felix threw himself on his couch again, and lay smoking, +rarely throwing in a word, as he watched every movement of the other's +hand. The proximity of this man, who was self-reliant, so humble, and +yet so constantly striving at some lofty aim, exercised a singularly +soothing influence upon Felix's restless soul. He confessed this, when +Kohle began to express surprise that any one should leave the town, +head over heels in this way, and rush into the country, in order, when +he arrived there, to shut himself up in a sunless garret room, and look +on while a man painfully trundled his barrow over a hard road, toward a +goal of art which is generally supposed to have long since been left +behind. + +"My dear Kohle," he said, "only let me stay here. I should like very +much to learn something from you which would be of more benefit to me +than a walk or a bath in the lake--namely, your art of knowing just +what you want, and of wanting nothing which you cannot have. Was this +art born in you, or have you gradually acquired it, and paid your +instruction-fee for it, as for other arts?' + +"The best part of it is inborn," answered Kohle, quietly going on with +his sketching. "You must know that I came into this world as poor as a +church-mouse, and endowed with so small a proportion of all the goods +and gifts that fall to the share of so-called fortunate mortals, the +first-born and favorite children of Mother Nature, that, in my boyhood, +I had little pleasure in life, and would have parted with it very +cheaply. But then I discovered that I possessed something which +out-weighed all the glittering treasures in the world--such as beauty, +wealth, wit, or great intellect. I mean the ability to dream with my +eyes wide open, and to interpret my dreams for myself. The actual +world, with its joys and splendors, was as good as closed against a +poor devil like myself. How could such a wretched creature as this +Philip Emanuel Kohle, this lean, yellow ragamuffin in poor clothes, who +stumbled awkwardly through the world, and who could neither fascinate +women nor impress men, have the impudence to take his place at the +bounteous table at which the children of fortune felt at home? So I +held myself aloof, and earnestly and zealously set to work to evolve a +second world from my dreams--one which belonged to me, and from which +no one could bid me depart--a world which was far more beautiful, +sublime, and perfect, than the actual world about me. And as I +wasted no time or strength on anything else--neither in wretched +money-getting, nor in foolish ambition, nor even in hopeless love +affairs--my nature grew up straight and true, and in the greatest +development of which it was capable, which is by no means the case with +every one; and I could not help laughing in my sleeve, when I noticed +that I passed among my friends for a simpleton and a narrow-minded +fool. The truth is, my simpleness was the very thing that contributed +most to my secret contentment, when I saw how seldom the manifold +desires and restless striving of others led to happiness. '_Chi troppo +abbraccia, nulla stringe_,' say the wise Italians. I embrace nothing +but my art; but I embrace it the more passionately because it exists +for me alone. There you have the whole secret. There is a juster +apportionment of good and evil in this world than we are willing to +admit in our hours of depression." + +Felix was silent. It was on the tip of his tongue to say that he envied +him. Yet he felt at once how thoroughly right this quiet man was in his +last assertion. He felt that he would not, for all the peace in the +world, have given up his own miserable condition; for, at the same time +that it gave him the keenest anguish, it brought with it the certainty +that so charming a creature as his lost love was still in the world, +and had been brought so painfully near to him again. + +When noon came, they were called down into the garden by the +white-haired old woman, who, in her sober moments, was a most excellent +and active servant. The table was laid in a shady arbor near the house. +Rosenbusch and the actor had returned from their different expeditions; +the latter with a basket full of excellent trout, and the other +with a face which showed plainly enough that he too had not come +back unsuccessfully but had gained all he had promised himself from +his morning walk. He was in full gala-dress, consisting of his +violet-colored velvet coat, a white waistcoat, and a gigantic Panama +hat, beneath which his hair and his red beard, which had been shorn to +so little purpose, had already begun to sprout again. His honest, +merry, handsome face was radiant with good-humor; and as Elfinger did +his best to be entertaining, and Felix to make up for the alarm he had +occasioned on the previous day, the meal was enlivened by all sorts of +jollity and good stories. + +Nor was there, for that matter, any lack of more substantial dainties; +and Kohle, who had voluntarily taken upon himself the office of butler, +ran out every few minutes to fetch up another dusty bottle; for Rossel, +who was a light drinker himself, had a sort of passion for collecting +the rarest brands of wine in his cellar, if only a small supply of +each. It was not long before the programme which had been prepared for +the afternoon leaked out. They proposed to row over to Starnberg in +Rossel's pretty little boat, to land there, and then, while strolling +along the shore, to encounter, as if by pure accident, the two sisters, +who were to go out with their aunt, under the pretext of taking a walk. +Then, upon a polite invitation, they were all to get into the boat +again together, and be rowed out upon the lake, in whichever direction +circumstances and the mood of the moment might suggest. + +Rossel pronounced this plan to be very wisely conceived, but flatly +refused to take part in it. He had an aversion, founded on principle, +to all pic-nics, especially where there were ladies whom one was +obliged to treat with politeness and consideration, relinquishing to +them the most comfortable places and the daintiest morsels. For lovers +this was no sacrifice, since they could indemnify themselves in other +ways. But such a restraint could not be imposed upon free and +independent natures without great injustice. He would, therefore, +remain at home until the day grew cooler, and study Regis's translation +of Rabelais, which he had long had in mind to illustrate. Toward +evening he would stroll into the wood in order to take a look at his +mushroom-bed; for he had made it his especial task to forward the +culture of the mushroom in the woods about Starnberg, as well as the +general improvement and introduction of all edible fungi. Then, when +they came home late at night, intoxicated with sour beer and sweet +words, a supper should await them that would be "worth the toil of +princes." + +Felix, too, would gladly have remained behind. But there was no way for +him to do this without betraying his secret. And, besides, what else +could he do to quiet his secret yearning--since it was impossible for +him to approach her by daylight? He secretly consoled himself by the +thought that, when they returned, late in the evening, he would creep +to the garden-fence again, and watch the bright room leading off the +balcony. + +Philip Emanuel Kohle's feeble attempt to excuse himself, because of his +bashfulness in ladies' society, was clamorously voted down. As he was, +moreover, the only one of the party who carried a chart of the lake in +his head, he could not find it in his heart to desert his friends. + +There was a thunder-storm in the air, but it looked as though it had +come to a halt in the west, and would pass off harmlessly. The sky was +dark and lowering, and the lake was as smooth as a mirror, when the +light but roomy boat shot out of the little bay. Rossel stood on the +shore, waving his handkerchief and fez. Kohle sat at the tiller, +Elfinger rowed, and Rosenbusch, as they glided along past the green +banks, took advantage of the permit Rossel had given him, to play upon +his flute some of his most pastoral melodies--doubly melting this time, +for he was on his way to his sweetheart's side, and to Heaven knows +what romantic adventures. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + +They had scarcely landed at the end of the lake when they saw in the +distance the three figures they were looking for, strolling slowly +along the road that circled the shore. When within hailing distance, +the prearranged farce of a chance meeting and recognition was played +with the utmost seriousness, and it was impossible to detect, from the +godmother's manner, whether she had accepted a _role_ in the comedy, or +whether she innocently believed that the two gentlemen who lived +opposite the sisters in the city had merely seized this opportunity to +exchange a word or two with their lovely neighbors for the first time. +The girls bore themselves in accordance with their respective +characters--the elder quiet and sparing of words, the younger gay and +coquettish even to audacity. They were dressed charmingly, and indeed +almost elegantly; but Fanny wore dark ribbons, while Nanny's little hat +was adorned with a red rose and trimmings of the same color. The +battle-painter had warned the good Kohle at the dinner-table against +the godmother, as a pious creature, enthusiastic about art and +notorious for enticing into her net innocent young painters of a +serious turn of mind. But she was, in fact, a pleasant little soul +enough, far on in the thirties. She had lost her husband, a well-to-do +confectioner, shortly after their marriage, and was fond of protesting, +with many sighs, that she never, never could forget him. A Gothic +temple, made of sugar and adorned with numerous figures of saints, +which he had made for their marriage, as a sort of triumph of his art, +still stood in a state of good preservation under a glass case upon her +sideboard. Nevertheless rumor said of her that she had not always +harshly repulsed the numerous offers she had received as a widow, +though she had been too wise to give the slightest cause for public +gossip. Certain ecclesiastical gentlemen, who were in the habit of +going in and out of her house, gave her the best certificate of +character; and though she did not close her door to young artists, she +took care to see that they were proper, respectable people, who painted +church pictures with long robes, and did not wear their shirt-collars +after the fashion of too erratic genius; and that they held aloof from +all pagan theories of art. To this godly way of life she owed it that +her own godmother, the glove-maker's wife, had trusted her with "the +children" for a day, although some malicious people pretended to think +that to go gadding into the country was not exactly the thing for +well-preserved widows. + +She was quite modestly dressed, but yet in such a way that her figure, +already somewhat inclined to _embonpoint_, was shown to the best +advantage. In her manner she kept a wise mean between the severe +dignity which a God-fearing woman of an uncertain age usually maintains +toward youthful giddiness, and a too free approval of the pranks that +danced through her godchild's head. At the same time she did not try to +keep the silent Felix from knowing that his slim, manly form had made +an impression on her; though she was wise enough to do it so slyly as +to give a motherly sort of aspect to her interest in him. It was only +when the ungrateful man, whose poor soul was quite unconscious of its +conquest, continued to walk at her side in complacent abstraction, +casting furtive glances all around to see whether he was running +directly in the way of her whom he must especially avoid--then only did +she withdraw her favor from him and bestow it upon the insignificant +Kohle, whom Rosenbusch had introduced to her as a painter of the +severest style, a disciple of the great Cornelius, and one whom she +needed only to make a better Christian in order to win in him a new +pillar of ecclesiastical art. Kohle submitted to it all with a most +patient smile, and really began to pay pronounced attention to this +stately creature as well as he knew how, merely that he might not seem +to stand in the way of the others' sport. + +They had been strolling up and down the shore for about a quarter of an +hour in this way, when, as if without the slightest premeditation, the +proposal was made that they should take an excursion on the water; a +proposal which was accepted after a good deal of well-acted hesitation +on the part of the godmother, and much entreating and flattering and +coaxing on the part of the blonde Nanny. + +Soon afterward the boat, with its merry freight, shot out upon the +sunny lake, rowed now by Felix, who had had occasion to exercise this +noble art on many waters of the Old World and the New. Kohle sat at the +tiller and thought only of his dame Venus, notwithstanding the nearness +of the beautiful art-enthusiast who was opposite him. The two pairs of +lovers occupied the middle seats, Elfinger gazing devotedly on the +lovely face of his neighbor, who let her little white hand trail +through the green water, and seemed to-day to enjoy the beauty of this +world with all her heart. She held a large sunshade over her head in +such a way that her companion might also profit by its shade; the first +favor she had ever bestowed upon him, and one which made its modest +recipient very happy. Her vivacious sister, on the other hand, +maintained that Rosenbusch's great hat was really a family straw-hat, +and could afford protection against sunstroke to a whole ship's crew. +She freely exposed her laughing face to the sun, bound a white +handkerchief to her sunshade, which she planted like a flagstaff +between herself and her adorer, and declared that she was looking +forward with great pleasure to the storm which was undoubtedly about to +burst forth and bury them all in the depths of the lake, with the +exception of those who could swim--swimming being a great passion of +her own. She also offered to save one of the others, only it must not +be Rosenbusch, whose velvet coat was too heavy, and would certainly +drag down its owner. + +Aunt Babette--for this was the godmother's name--attempted now and then +to give her a reproving glance. But, as no one took the slightest +notice of this, she made up her mind to become young and worldly again +herself, particularly as the heat made all restraint doubly burdensome. +She unwound the lace shawl from her round shoulders, drew off her +gloves and untied her ribbons, so that she looked in her _neglige_ +almost as young and certainly as full of life as the serious Fanny. She +laughed even louder than the two girls at the jests and tricks which +Rosenbusch displayed for their amusement. He was celebrated for his +power of mimicking the whirring of a quail, the cackling of a hen, and +the noise of a saw. He told long and ridiculous stories in different +dialects, and delivered a sermon, with the most solemn pulpit +utterance, in a senseless jargon which he gave out to be English. But +his great masterpiece was a pantomimic scene representing nuns praying +at their nightly devotions. To do this he bound a handkerchief round +his head, and wrapped himself up in a lady's cloak so that only his +eyes, the tip of his nose, and his hands-folded over his breast--were +left visible, and then began with hypocritical zeal and constant change +of expression to roll his eyes and nod his head and murmur over his +rosary, now as an antiquated, dozing nun, who kept dropping off to +sleep between her prayers; now as a deeply contrite and extravagantly +penitent sinner, and again as a well-to-do sister, grown gray in the +convent, who had long since learned to regard the matter from its +practical side, and refrained from unnecessary exertion, but strove +from time to time to keep up her spirits by taking a stolen pinch of +snuff. + +This amateur exhibition had worked so irresistibly that even the worthy +godmother nearly lost her balance from laughter, and had to be +supported by Kohle; and it was only when the show had come to an end +that it seemed to strike the conscience of its mischievous author that +he might possibly have offended Elfinger's devout _fiancee_ by this +absurd parody. Whereupon, assuming an air of mock contrition, he begged +a thousand pardons of Fraeulein Fanny, while in secret he reckoned it as +a good work to have given her a foretaste of the joys that awaited her. +Then, as if in penance for his offense, he suddenly began to play the +"_O Sanctissima_" upon his flute, with such beauty and pathos that even +the wild Nanny grew serious, and began to sing a gentle accompaniment, +in which her sister joined. + +It rang out sweetly over the lonely, brooding stillness of the lake, so +that they did not end with this first song, but followed each other +with their favorite airs. + +Elfinger sang an excellent tenor, and took great pains to make his song +strike home to the heart of his lovely neighbor. The two rowers alone +were dumb, though they had drawn in their oars upon getting well out +upon the water. Kohle had no more voice than a crow, and Felix felt as +if his breast were encircled by the seven girdles of the legend. + +As they floated along thus peacefully and quietly, a west wind sprung +up, and carried them unnoticed toward the opposite shore, where a +much-frequented garden-restaurant smiled on them from out the verdure +of a gently-sloping bank. Elfinger proposed that they should land here +and drink some coffee--a suggestion to which no one had an objection to +offer. And while they drifted slowly toward the shore he closed the +entertainment with a song which Rosenbusch had once written for one of +their feasts in "Paradise." It went to the tune of a popular melody, +and the author accompanied it skillfully on his flute. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + +While the few stanzas of the song were sung, they had approached so +close to the bank that the people in the garden, where a mixed Sunday +company was collected, could hear the flute, and could even catch the +words. Some of the guests had left their places in order to take a +nearer look at the musicians; and as Rosenbusch had a large circle of +acquaintances, he was enthusiastically greeted on all sides. With an +air of complacent self-importance, he conducted his lady, who was +suddenly overcome with fear lest she too might be recognized and +reported to her father, to the only table which was still unoccupied. +The others followed; Felix alone remained behind for a few minutes at +the boat to repair some trifling damage to the rudder. + +Then, as he started after his friends, seeking them in the crowd from +table to table, until he finally caught sight of Nanny's coquettish +little hat with the red rose by the side of the white "family straw" of +her cavalier--what was it that made him suddenly stand still in the +scorching sun, with his eyes fixed upon a little summerhouse, in which +six persons were sitting about a round table? + +It was the shadiest spot in the garden, and the party within had caused +it to be distinctly understood that they had no intention of admitting +any others, by occupying all the chairs that were still vacant with +their hats, umbrellas, and canes. Nearest the entrance, like a sentry, +sat the tall, lank figure of the lieutenant, in his well-known +riding-coat; and at his side a slender young lady with downcast eyes, +as if, in the midst of all this confused buzz and hum of conversation, +she were occupied only with her own thoughts. + +Just then Schnetz addressed some remark to her, and she looked up and +let her glance wander over the garden. Thus it happened that her gaze +met that of the young man who was standing so conspicuously in the sun. +It is true, he instantly lowered his eyes; but he had already been +recognized, and could no longer think of retreating unnoticed. Besides, +at that very moment he felt himself touched on the arm by Kohle, who +had been up to the restaurant in the mean while to order coffee. + +"What are you standing here for?" cried his busy friend. "Come and help +me entertain the Frau godmother, who is boring me to death with her +talk about the black Madonna in Altoetting, just from pure spite because +you play St. Anthony to her." + +Felix stammered out a few unintelligible words and allowed himself to +be dragged away. The chair which they had reserved next to Aunt Babette +stood, fortunately, with its back toward the summer-house. But scarcely +had he seated himself in it when Rosenbusch began: "Have you seen our +lieutenant, baron? This respected amphibion is taking his dry day +to-day among the nobler fowl, and appears, to judge from his +disconsolate air, to be gazing with longing at our moist element. What +a joke it would be if I should go up and beg him to introduce me to the +old countess and the young baroness! The latter would probably remember +having met me at that _soiree_ at the Russian lady's, where you left me +to make love to her alone." + +Whereupon he gave the girls and their godmother a detailed account of +the musical entertainment, and of his conversation with Irene. Little +Nanny, who had possibly been infected by some of papa's prejudices in +regard to art, should be made to understand how highly a battle-painter +is regarded in the highest social circles, and what an enviable +position would be accorded to her as his wife. But the lively girl did +not appear to form a very exalted idea of his success. + +"Are you quite sure, Herr Rosenbusch," she said, "that they recognized +you again? The beautiful Fraeulein scarcely moved her head when you took +off your hat to her, as though she meant to say, 'You are undoubtedly +mistaken in the person, sir.'" + +"It was merely her surprise, and a passing feeling of displeasure at +seeing me approach in such charming company. She may have attributed +too much meaning to the pretty speeches I made to her that night. These +high-born Fraeuleins are devilish sensitive, and for that reason I now +refrain from speaking to her. But why don't you go over and introduce +yourself to the ladies, my dear baron--you who have blue blood as well +as they?" + +Just at this moment Schnetz, in all his lankness, stepped up to their +table and greeted the ladies with formal politeness, at the same time +shaking hands with his friends. The fact that he should meet Felix here +did not seem to strike him as strange. + +"You happy mortals!" he growled out, biting his cigar, and pulling his +hat down lower over his forehead, while he withdrew a little distance +from the rest with Felix and Elfinger. "You all get on so capitally +together, and it does one good to hear you laugh so heartily; while we +are keeping up the usual sort of conventional twaddle, which consists, +upon my soul, in each one's saying nothing which the others could not +have said as well. They have just been wondering, behind my back, that +I should have anything whatever to do with you people, whom they look +upon as _mauvais genre_. A few artists and two pretty girls, at whose +papa's Madame the Countess buys her gloves--_quelle horreur!_ But the +ladies are not so bad; even the young countess, with the fixed dimples +in her highly-colored cheeks--by Heaven! little Fanny over there looks +ten times as much like a countess--even she is a good child, _au fond_, +and the right sort of a husband might still make something of her. But +as for that cousin of hers, to whom she is as good as engaged, and the +other young nobleman, with the imperial and the heavy manner--between +ourselves, he is dead in love with my little princess, who scarcely +honors him with a look--_tonnerre de Dieu!_ what nice specimens they +are of our high-born youth! And to think of my being condemned to go +about among them without treading on their toes! Thus are the sins of +the fathers visited upon the children! The first Schnetz who, whether +as marshal or hostler, helped an Agilolfinger into the saddle, has it +on his conscience that I, the unworthiest of his descendants, still +belong with the rest of them, hard as I try to make myself disagreeable +and even unbearable." + +They agreed to meet again in the evening at Rossel's villa, and then +returned to their respective parties. But our friends soon grew +impatient of quietly sitting at table over their coffee. The +neighboring wood invited the lovers where they could be free from +chaperonage, and Aunt Babette was paying too close attention to an +exposition of art by the "interesting young man," as she called Kohle, +to take any heed of the fact that Rosebud and Nanny occasionally +disappeared from view entirely, while Fanny anxiously insisted upon not +getting out of sight of the others. + +Felix soon lost himself in a lonely side-path. His heart was hot within +him, and wild plans chased one another through his brain. He realized +only too well that matters could not go on in this way; that this state +of indecision _after_ the decision would soon drive him to despair. If +the old world really was not large enough for him to avoid one woman +in, the ocean must separate them again, and this time forever. What he +was to do over there; how he could justify his resolution to Jansen, or +reconcile it with his choice of art as a profession, or with his own +pride, were questions which were still enveloped in darkness. But as +for tamely submitting, and allowing himself to be made a fool of by +capricious fortune, which seemed as if it had deliberately set itself +to work to bring the two lovers together on every possible occasion--to +this he would never consent! + +Whether he himself had not played into the hands of chance a little, +yesterday, was a question he did not ask. + +A distant peal of thunder, rolling toward him from the west, suddenly +roused him from these confused and bitter thoughts. The sky above the +tree-tops was still blue, but was overcast by that light, lead-colored +haze which precedes an approaching storm. There was no time to waste if +they wanted to get across the lake before the storm should break. For +already the air held its breath so utterly that not a leaf rustled on +the trees, and not even the note of a bird was heard. The lake, along +the banks of which Felix was hastening, was still unruffled by a breath +of wind; but its mid-waters were black with the reflection of the +heavy, low-hanging cloud that spread over the heaven like a gigantic +slab hewn from a single block of slate. Behind it, the bright sunlight +still glowed on the horizon, and the distant mountain chain shone out +in the delicate green of spring, as if bathed in eternal peace. + +The approach of the storm had been observed by the people in the +garden, and most of the guests had been prudent enough to embark on the +steamboat which had just left, and was now half-way over to Starnberg. +But by the time Felix had joined his friends again it was too late for +them to choose this shorter way. Besides, Rossel's villa was a good +deal nearer than the Starnberg station, and Rosenbusch, who always had +his head full of adventures, was already dreaming of the improvised +quarters for the night, which should be prepared for the ladies in the +dining-room. He took very good care, however, not to give utterance to +these romantic projects, but merely urged a hasty departure, in order +that they might escape the rain. + +When they reached the landing-place, they found Schnetz and his party +engaged in an annoying scene. + +The young boatman who had rowed them over flatly refused to start on +the return trip, in view of the storm that threatened to break upon +them at any moment. The boat was too heavily loaded to get over the +water quickly, and his master had given him a bad pair of oars, the +good ones having been sent off with another boat early in the morning. +The gentlemen might offer him what they liked, but he would not make +the trip; he knew what he was saying, and what it meant "when the lake +and the sky came so near together." + +One of the young gentlemen was addressing the lad--who was a +neatly-dressed young fellow, and wished, perhaps, to spare his Sunday +clothes--in rough and imperious tones, commanding him to obey without +further parley, and to leave the responsibility to them. The lake was +as smooth as a mirror, and there was so little wind that the storm +might very likely be an hour in reaching them. But when, upon the +boatman's remaining obstinate, he tried to wrench the oar from the +defiant fellow's hand, saying that, if a lout like him had no pluck, he +might at least get out of the way and take himself to the devil--all +the man's pent-up fury and insulted _amour propre_ burst out; with an +angry answer in the most forcible epithets of his country dialect, he +threw the oar at the young count's feet, took his jacket out of the +boat, and, with a malicious grin, wishing the company a pleasant +journey, started off toward the highway which winds along by the +lake-shore. + +"The thunder-storm comes just right for him," said the waiter-girl, who +had been attracted to the spot by the quarrel, and who now stood gazing +after the angry fellow as he hurried away. "The ladies and gentlemen +mustn't think that Hiesl had started to run back to his father's on +foot; he knew well enough there was going to be a wedding celebrated in +Ambach, and had been impatient to get there for some time; for the +red-haired waiter-girl in the tavern there had completely turned his +head, and all because she wouldn't have anything to do with him--though +he would marry her on the spot if she would take him, and he was not +one to be sneezed at either, and was earning a good living too. So he +had caught at the pretext that the storm would be upon them before the +party could get back to Starnberg again, and was on his way as fast as +his legs would carry him, so as to get to Ambach, which was nearly an +hour from here, with a dry skin. Oh! these men!" + +She seemed to think it very foolish for him to run so far, when he +could find all he wanted close at hand. But in reply to their question, +whether there really was so much danger of the storm, she gave the most +comforting assurances; it might not reach them for several hours yet, +and, very likely, if a wind should spring up it would pass over +altogether. + +The young count, who now regarded it as a matter of honor to undertake +the trip and to outshine the obstinate boor by his superior skill as a +boatman, allayed all the old countess's doubts and fears; and the young +people did not shrink from a trifling lake-storm, particularly as +Schnetz, who was filled with horror at the bare thought of staying here +overnight, declared that there was not the slightest reason for +anxiety. He himself would take charge of the tiller as he had done when +they came out, and in half an hour they would undoubtedly be landed +safe and sound at the opposite bank. + +The whole scene had taken place so near the spot where the artists and +their companions stood, that not a word had escaped them. They were, +however, in even less of a humor to let themselves be frightened by the +distant growling of the heavens, and had already rowed out quite a +little distance into the lake before the more aristocratic boat shoved +off from shore. Felix bent to his oar with redoubled energy in order to +put as much water as possible between himself and his beloved enemy, +and it looked as though they would reach the opposite shore in half the +time usually needed for the passage. + +Nevertheless, it was strange that on this return voyage such a deep +silence should have succeeded to the high spirits with which they had +first rowed over. Even Rosenbusch said nothing, but contented himself +with casting the most eloquent glances at his sweetheart, who now sat +silent and pensive, with her head resting on her sister's shoulder. +Elfinger and his beloved looked away from one another down into the +dark water; and only Aunt Babette gave a little scream from time to +time when a vivid flash of lightning tore zigzag through the blue-black +clouds, and illuminated the woods on the bank in a green, ghastly +glare. + +The young nobleman in the other boat pulled a good oar. He was a +handsome, chivalrous young fellow, who certainly did not deserve the +contempt with which Schnetz had spoken of him. In order that the ladies +who had intrusted themselves to his care might be landed in safety as +soon as possible, he sought to overtake the other boat, in spite of its +lead. But his powerful exertions came to an end in a very unexpected +way. One of the oars, rotten with age, suddenly broke short off in the +middle; and at the same instant the first gust of wind swept with a +melancholy howl across the surface of the lake, which, as if +transformed by the touch of a magician's wand, began suddenly to surge +like a miniature raging ocean. + +Schnetz rose from his seat at the tiller. + +"I entreat the ladies not to prove false to the coolness they have thus +far shown, because of this little accident," he said. "We could +undoubtedly get across even without a second oar. But to have one will +be better. I will inquire of my artist friends over yonder if they +haven't one to spare." + +He wore a little metal whistle, suspended by a green cord from a button +on his waistcoat. With this he piped a sort of boatswain's signal. + +Elfinger started. "That is Roland's call!" he said, seriously. "What +can he want of us?" + +Felix raised his oar from the water; the two boats approached one +another. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," said Schnetz, "allow me, first of all, to make +you acquainted with one another, as well as such a thing can be done on +such a rocking floor, and without the customary bows. I have the honor, +ladies, to introduce you to my friend Baron Felix von Weiblingen, who +has just deserted a diplomatic career for the liberal arts, and, as you +perceive, knows how to handle the oar as skillfully as the chisel and +modeling-tool. Herr Graf ----, Herr Baron ----, Messieurs Rosenbusch +and Elfinger--the ladies, I understand, are already known to one +another. Look here, baron, can't you help us out with an oar? One of +ours has come to grief. We have suffered a slight shipwreck." + +Felix stood up. Although the waves rocked the little boat violently, +his slender, powerful figure stood out strong and erect against the +black, stormy sky. At the approach of danger he had recovered all his +coolness and confidence, qualities which he had often enough had a +chance to test in his adventurous journeyings through the solitudes of +the New World. Even the face opposite him in the other boat, the pale +oval framed by the hood of a gray cloak from beneath which straggled a +brown lock--even the glance of those eyes, which preferred to gaze down +into the dark, tempestuous depths rather than to meet his--nothing +could shake his coolness now when the time had come for him to show +himself master of the moment. + +"We carry a few extra oars with us, it is true," he shouted back, +raising his voice, for the storm began to howl louder and louder. "But +I should prefer to help you with them in our own boat--Elfinger is an +excellent oarsman--and to fasten your craft to ours. Then we will take +you in tow, and the passage will be much safer and quicker; for your +boat is a flat-bottomed, badly-built affair, without keel or cut-water, +and all you gentlemen are in it for the first time." + +"Agreed!" roared Schnetz in return. "Let us connect ourselves with our +_remorqueur_ with all possible speed, and then _vogue la galere!_" + +Rossel's well-equipped craft had, fortunately, a good supply of ropes +at hand, so that Kohle, from his seat at the stern, soon drew the +drifting boat up to his own and made it fast with a firm knot. Then +Felix and Elfinger bent to their oars, and their four strong arms +seemed to drive the two boats as if in sport over the raging surface of +the water. + +Not a word was spoken in either vessel. To the countess's whispered +question to Irene: whether this young baron belonged to the well-known +Weiblingens in D----, there came no answer. The young countess had +grown as pale as her high-colored complexion would permit. Her cousin +sought to conceal his ill-humor at the accident, by trying to light a +cigar; but the wind was too much for him. In the first boat, too, a +breathless silence reigned. Rosenbusch alone bent over from time to +time, and whispered a few words to his blonde sweetheart, but they were +lost forever in the storm. The gale raged above their heads with +increasing fury, lightning and thunder burst almost continuously from +the black clouds, and the blast, as it whirled the tumult through the +sky, seemed so violent that the clouds had no time to dissolve in rain. +All around the shore lay wrapped in darkness, and in the south, where +gusts of rain mingled the sky and lake together, every trace of the +mountain line had disappeared. + +Suddenly Felix's voice made itself heard at the extreme end of the +little flotilla: "I think it advisable, Schnetz, for us to change our +course. Otherwise we shall tire ourselves out pulling against this +head-wind without making any progress westward. In spite of all our +exertions, we haven't reached the middle of the lake yet, and, as we +may expect a deluge at any moment, I would propose, in the interest of +the ladies, that we turn about and try to reach the land quickly at any +price. What do you say?" + +"That we have no voice whatever in the matter!" Schnetz shouted back. +"In a storm the captain commands upon his own responsibility! and with +that, enough said!" + +A strong shove of the tiller showed that Kohle had decided in favor of +silent obedience. The good effects of the change were felt immediately; +for now the two boats, sailing with the current and the wind, skimmed +as though with wings over the high waves. + +But they already had been driven too far toward the south to reach +their old harbor again. When they had approached near enough to the +bank to distinguish trees and houses, they saw a scene which they did +not recognize--an inn close upon the lake, from whose windows streamed +a bright light and the merry sound of dance-music. + +"We have arrived just in time for the wedding," growled Schnetz. "If we +don't go to the devil first, we can while away the time by dancing--the +best way to get rid of all the bad effects of our fright. May I have +the honor, countess, of engaging you for a cotillion?" + +The old lady, who had been suffering the keenest alarm, and had +secretly made all sorts of vows to her patron saints, drew a long +breath of relief, and said, laughing nervously: "If anything had +happened to us, _mon cher_ Schnetz, your godlessness would have been to +blame for sending so many good people to the bottom. Well, _Dieu soit +loue, nous voila sains et saufs._ Melanie, your hair is atrociously +disordered. How have you borne it, my dear Irene?" + +"I was not afraid. Still I shall be glad to get on shore." + +And, indeed, just at this moment, the rain-drops began to fall one by +one on the broad surface of the lake. + +Another quarter of an hour of vigorous work at the oars and the +foremost boat passed through the surf of the flat shore and ran up on +the beach. Felix sprang on shore and helped out the sisters and the +godmother. When it came to the turn of the party in the other boat, he +left to his friends the duty of setting the ladies ashore dry-shod, +while he busied himself in fastening the two boats to posts upon the +bank. + +The old countess came up to him, overflowing with earnest assurances of +her gratitude, which he politely put aside. Upon her presently +repeating her inquiry about his family, he dryly replied: + +"I come from beyond the sea, countess, and have left my family tree in +the backwoods. But you will get wet if you stay out here any longer. My +friend, Herr Koble, will have the honor of conducting you into the +house. It is well known that a captain must not leave his ship until it +lies safe at anchor." + +The good lady wondered to herself that a young man, who seemed to be so +_comme il faut_, should relinquish the honor of becoming her knight to +a _bourgeois_. But as she was rather confused and helpless, and did not +exactly know where to look for her son and son-in-law, she accepted the +painter's arm with condescending amiability, and, turning around every +instant to see that her daughter was following, she hastened toward the +house, in which the music had not ceased for a moment. + +Schnetz had taken possession of the two sisters, and the young count +approached Irene to conduct her into the house. But she declined his +proffered arm with a gesture of thanks, wrapped herself closer in her +cloak, and hastened after the others. + +She had not looked around at Felix, but at the threshold she hesitated. +Perhaps her beating heart was secretly whispering to her to turn, rush +into the storm and rain, and call to the lonely man upon the shore. + +Just at this moment her cousin turned to her with some casual question, +laid a hand upon her arm, and drew her across the hall into the guests' +room. She threw back her head with such a hasty movement, that her hood +fell off. Her young face, which she had learned only too well how to +keep under control, became cold and stern, and the moment which might +have broken the ice passed away unused. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + +Nor had Felix looked around at Irene. And yet he knew exactly when she +entered the door, and vanished into the house. + +His work on the shore had long been completed. The two boats were +fastened securely to their chains, and the heavy surf bumped their +wooden sides against one another with a dull, monotonous sound. It was +by no means pleasant here in the rain. The drops fell thicker and +faster; leaves and twigs were torn from the trees near the boathouse, +and sent whirling far and wide. And yet this lonely man here in the +storm could not even now make up his mind to seek refuge in the house, +which stood before him with its bright windows looking so hospitable +and cozy, and protecting a crowd of happy beings from the furies of the +gale. + +He was just considering whether he should not retreat, into one of the +boats which, lying under the roof of the boat-house, would at least +offer him a dry place of refuge, when a vivid flash of lightning lit +up the darkness around, and in the next instant, even before the +thunder-clap had time to follow, he heard a scoffing laugh, not far +away. He saw now that he was not quite alone. On the bridge of the +steamboat-landing, which was built on piles and ran out for some +distance into the lake, stood the young boatman who, an hour before, +had foretold the storm, and had refused to make the return journey. As +if he felt at home amid this whirlwind, he stood there in his +shirtsleeves, his jacket thrown over his shoulder, bareheaded, smoking +a short pipe, and leaning upon the railing of the bridge. His eyes were +fixed with an evil, piercing fire upon Felix, whom he had probably +mistaken for the young count because he had been busied with the boats. +As soon as the noise of the thunder had died away, he burst out anew in +a loud, scoffing laugh. "So Hiesl is a stupid boor, and doesn't know +anything--not even his own business? He ought to learn it from the city +gentlemen? Ha, ha, ha! I only wish you had had all the flesh washed off +your bones. Ha, ha, ha! Well, look sharp now, and carry the thing +through. It's just jolly inside there, and perhaps next time Heaven +will have sense enough to--" + +The howling of the storm drowned the rest of his speech. Felix had a +sharp reply on the tip of his tongue, with which to rebuke the fellow, +and at the same time to show him that he had made a mistake in the +person. But now the tempest broke in such a terrible deluge of rain +that he was absolutely deprived of sight and hearing, and had to grope +his way to reach the house with a tolerably dry skin. + +The heavy house-door was torn from its chain by the storm, and closed +behind him with a deafening crash. In the lower entry a number of +people sat at little tables hung on hinges along the wall, and just +large enough to hold the plates and beer-mugs. A country waiting-maid, +who was coming out of the kitchen, told Felix that his party were +up-stairs dancing, and asked whether he wanted anything. He silently +shook his head, and slowly ascended the stairs; not with the intention +of joining his friends, but merely to find where she was, and which +room of the house it would be necessary for him to avoid. + +Not a soul was to be seen in the dimly-lighted hall above; but all the +doors stood open on account of the heat, and poured forth a mixture of +lamp-light, smoke, and noise, while the floor creaked under the regular +tread of the dancers, and the air trembled with the surly grumbling of +a gigantic bass-viol. The dancing-hall lay at the extreme end of the +corridor. Felix walked along it without looking into any of the other +rooms until he reached the end door, where he found that, by standing +behind the spectators, he could comfortably overlook all that was going +on within. The bridegroom seemed to be a young forester, and his bride +a burgher's daughter from the city. Consequently, the whole affair had +a certain something about it which distinguished it favorably from +ordinary country weddings, and the couples spun around through the +spacious hall in quite an orderly fashion, and without the customary +shouting, screaming, and romping, to the music of several stringed +instruments, a solitary clarionet, and the occasional sound of a +woodman's horn. + +The first couple that Felix made out through the blue mist of +tobacco-smoke was Rosenbusch with his Nanny. And, to his surprise, he +saw Elfinger and his sweetheart waltzing gracefully close behind them; +and the future bride of heaven seemed to abandon herself without much +resistance to this worldly pleasure. + +And now even the young countess herself appeared amid this mixed +company, whirled by the young baron, her betrothed, far more rapidly +than would have been good _ton_ at a court ball. Her brother, the +count, stood in a retired corner, apparently paying his court to Aunt +Babette, who would not let herself be seduced into dancing again for +any price in the world. In the adjoining room, which he could only half +overlook, he perceived his friend Kohle, absorbed in an earnest +conversation with the countess. + +No trace of Irene anywhere! Could she have hidden from him? It was +hardly possible that she could be in the other rooms, where the more +elderly relatives of the bridal couple sat, eating and talking. And yet +he must know whither she had gone, in order to spare her another +painful meeting. + +A waiting-maid entering through one of the open doors just at this +moment, he determined to ask her about the Fraeulein. But when he called +to the tidy-looking girl, and she turned her head toward him, a +half-joyful, half-embarrassed cry of surprise escaped them both. A +little more and the girl would have let the mugs fall from her hands. +Trembling and blushing she put down her load on a chair, and covered +her face with her hands. + +"What a queer place to meet _you_ in, Zenz!" said Felix, going up to +her kindly and holding out his hand. "How long have you been here? But +you don't know me any longer!--or won't you give me your hand because +you are angry with me?" + +The girl stood motionless, leaning against the wall and deeply flushed, +her hands outstretched, with the fingers wide-spread as if in +supplication. She was dressed much more daintily than the waiter-girls +down-stairs; her thick red hair, hanging in two heavy braids down her +back, was wound around with a little string of corals, and her arms +were bare to the elbow. Her charming figure showed to advantage in its +short dress and tight-fitting bodice, and a little rose in her bosom +set off the whiteness of her neckerchief and of her little coquettish +waitress's apron. It was no wonder she found suitors enough out here in +the country, and could play the prude toward the young boatman. + +"Well, Zenz," Felix began again, for she still remained silent, "is it +all over with our old friendship? You ran away from me once so +treacherously, you naughty child--I searched every corner for you--but +I bear you no malice on that score. Look here, perhaps you can tell +me what has become of the young Fraeulein?--the tall one with the +water-proof? She is not with the others." + +"I know the one you mean well enough," the girl answered, suddenly +growing quite unembarrassed, for he behaved so coolly and seemed to +have forgotten all the past. "You mean the handsome one who has +something distinguished about her, more than all the rest. She couldn't +stand it long in the hot rooms, but had a chamber given her up-stairs, +so as to be all alone, for she had such a terrible headache, she said. +Do you know her? But of course you do; you came with the party. Why, I +shouldn't wonder if she were your--" + +She broke off and peered in his face, with a sly look. Something of her +old frivolity flickered up in it; but then she scornfully curled her +lips. + +"For all I care!" she said, shrugging her shoulders. "What difference +does it make to me who your sweetheart is? Go up the stairs there and +knock at No. 17. You will find what you are looking for." + +"Zenz," he answered, with a troubled look, "you are very much mistaken +if you think--But tell me, first of all, how you have been, and whether +you like the life out here better than in the city, and whether I can +help you in any way?" + +He felt the necessity of showing his friendliness in some way or other +to this good creature, whose devotion he had so coldly repulsed, that +he might efface the painful remembrance from her mind. She seemed to +feel this, and to be grateful for it. A soft blush--no longer of +embarrassment, but of joy--mounted to her cheeks. + +"How do I like it here?" she said, laughing. "Oh, pretty well so far. +The people of the house treat me very well, and if I do my duty, what +do I care for any one else? Only it's just a little dull and lonely +here." + +"I imagine there is no lack of people, Zenz, who would be glad to help +you while away the time if you would only let them." + +She did not answer at once, but listened in the direction of the +stairs, where some one had just crept up and had stopped half-way as if +to listen. There was a pause in the music, and any one standing on the +dark stairway could not have helped hearing every word that was spoken +on the landing above. The girl's face assumed a slighting, contemptuous +expression. She seemed to know who was standing there on the watch, and +purposely raised her voice so as to give the listener the full benefit +of what she said. + +"Have you, too, heard that gossip?" she said. "Well, if any one ever +says to you again that Zenz has got a lover here, give him my best +regards and tell him he is a mean liar. I know very well that the +waiter-girl in Leoni says all sorts of bad things about me because +Hiesl, the fisherman, who used to keep company with her, tries to pay +court to me. But, though I am only a poor girl, I am a hundred times +too good for such a wild fellow as he is, going about on every holiday +picking quarrels, and spending all his money on drinking and bowling. +Just think of it, that little Spanish knife I took from your table that +time by mistake--or rather not by mistake--I really believe, may God +forgive me, I would have liked best to kill myself, I felt so wild and +unhappy that night!--well, I have carried it about with me ever since; +I used to wear it stuck in my bodice instead of the spoon which, as a +waiter-girl, I ought to have carried, and it's not a week ago that I +told Hiesl my opinion of him once for all, and he grew so furious that +he snatched the knife away from me, and cried out 'to remember him if +anything happened,' or something of that kind. But I laughed, and said +unless he gave it back to me something _would_ happen, for I would +complain of him to the police. _He_ my lover! Well, I _should_ be a +fool! Besides, I don't want any lover at all; it always ends in the +girl's being deceived; and the one she can get she doesn't like, and +the one she likes she can't get. And now let me go, Herr Baron, the +ladies and gentlemen inside are waiting, and you must go and pay your +court to the Fraeulein. Why should you waste your time out here with a +waitress?" + +She made a movement as if to take up her mugs again, but without +hurrying herself particularly. + +Just at this moment the music struck up again, playing a cheerful but +not very lively waltz, apparently with the purpose of inviting the more +elderly guests to join the dance. + +"Zenz," said Felix, looking her straight in the face, "I don't care +anything about the Fraeuleins inside there; and, besides, I don't feel +in a mood for love-making. As soon as the storm is over, I am going off +without taking leave. If any one asks after me, you need only say that +I wanted to be in Starnberg in time to catch the last train. But first +I want to know whether I can't do you a favor of any kind, or get +something for you in the city, or whether you have any wish that a good +friend could fulfill for you? Speak out, Zenz! I am so unhappy myself +that I would like, at least, to give a little bit of happiness to some +one else." + +She looked searchingly in his face, as if to see whether he was in +earnest. She could not understand why he should not be happy. + +"Do you know," said she, at last, "if what you said was not meant as a +joke, I have a wish, and there is nothing so very terrible about it +either--I would like to dance with you, just once." + +"To dance with me?" + +"Of course I know well enough what is proper, and that a waiter-girl +shouldn't mix among the wedding-guests unless it happens to be a +peasant's wedding. But to be always hearing this beautiful music, that +makes you tingle down to the tips of your toes, and yet never to be +allowed to swing round with the rest, is very hard. I only mean that it +is almost the same out here in the entry as in the hall--you can hear +every note and the floor is smooth and clean. Will you?" + +He still hesitated. He certainly felt in no mood for dancing. But when +she suddenly put out her hand with a quick movement to seize her mugs, +as if she interpreted his hesitation to mean that, after all, he felt +himself too good to be her partner, he could not find it in his heart +to let her go away from him a second time feeling mortified and +insulted. + +"You are right, child," he said. "Let us dance. A man needn't be +particularly merry to have dancing feet. Come! But you must show me how +they do it here in the country." + +He put his arm round her slight and yielding figure, and she clung to +it with evident pleasure. "It goes splendidly," she whispered, after +the first round. "I feel as if I were being lifted up into heaven. Do +you remember how you put me on your horse, that time? Good Heavens! how +long ago that seems, and yet it's only a few weeks!" + +He did not answer, but went on dancing, rather gravely and seriously; +for it was no easy task to move easily up and down through the long, +narrow entry. And all the while he felt that his partner clung to him +more and more tenderly, while he himself remained perfectly cool; and +it was only when it seemed to him that they had had enough, and he had +released the girl from his arms again, in front of the chair on which +her beer-mugs stood, that he stroked her round face caressingly and +said: "Was that right, little one?" + +She trembled slightly, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of +the stairs which led to the upper story. Suddenly she pushed him from +her, whispered "Thank you," and, quickly seizing her mugs, ran past him +and down the stairs. + +He looked after her in surprise. What was it that had transformed this +girl so suddenly? A sudden suspicion arose within him. He rushed toward +the stairs, and peered up into the darkness. There was no longer +anything to be seen. But he heard a light footstep up above creeping +softly across the entry, and immediately afterward the latch of a door +was heard to fall, and a key was turned in the lock. + +A cold shiver passed over him, as the thought suddenly flashed across +him that this must have been she. She had started to go and join the +company, and had turned back when half-way down the stairs, in order +not to disturb his dance with a waiting-maid--! + +The discovery was so crushing that he remained standing motionless in +the middle of the corridor, and heard and saw nothing of what was going +on around him. He was finally roused from his stupor by one of the +wedding-guests, who, in stumbling past, struck against him with no +little force. He slowly felt his way down-stairs, passed across the +lower hall, and stepped out into the open air in a truly pitiable state +of mind. + +The storm had passed, but the air still trembled from the shock, and +now and then a drop fell from the roof, or the distant reflection of +the fading lightning flashed across the clear sky. The mountains stood +out on the horizon like light, sharply-defined clouds, and the +reflection of the stars danced up and down upon the waves, which seemed +to keep up the turmoil longer than anything else, and still surged +darkly on the shore. + +Felix went down to the bank, and walked to the extreme end of the +landing-pier. In the commotion of his thoughts, he found it impossible +to decide as to the course he should pursue. Should he at once seek an +interview with her, and explain how it had all come about--this +inconceivable, unheard-of, unpardonable scene? That after such a +painful meeting he had not scorned to flirt with a waiter-girl; that he +intended anything rather than to play a defiant and indifferent _role_; +that only a series of most unfortunate circumstances--but how could he +explain to her what it was that had induced him to behave so tenderly +toward the poor creature? And would she listen to him at all, for that +matter? After all, it seemed as if it would be better for him to write. +But even that would only help him out of the last phase of this +serio-comic dilemma. What was to guard him from a repetition of similar +scenes, if he continued to remain anywhere near her? + +He stood for a long time leaning over the railing of the bridge, +staring down into the restless, surging waves, lost in wild thoughts, +while through the open window the clarionet squeaked and the bass-viol +growled, as though there were none but happy people in all the world. + +At last, making a violent effort, he roused himself. He was determined +to avoid meeting a human face at any price, and to make his way to +Starnberg on foot. + +But, as he turned round, he saw behind him, planted in the middle of +the narrow way, a dark figure, which he immediately recognized as that +of Hiesl, the boatman. In his face, which he could plainly distinguish +in spite of the darkness, he could read the bitterest enmity. Besides, +the fellow had spread his legs, and thrust out his elbows, as if to +obstruct the way, and now stood grinning impudently in his face. + +"Fine weather, Herr Graf," he cried, hoarsely and thickly. "Quite fine +again for taking a walk, alone or with a single companion. I suppose +you won't be left alone long--ha, ha, ha! She'll probably get away from +the wedding soon, so as to dance a little while with the Herr Graf, all +alone by yourselves--ha, ha, ha!" + +"Get out of the way, fellow!" cried Felix, stepping close up to him. +"If you are seeking a quarrel, you will find you have hit on the wrong +man." + +"The wrong man?" blurted out the peasant, who coolly remained standing +where he was, and merely folded his arms across his breast. "That would +be a joke; if I couldn't see who the right man is, two feet off. You +are a count, and I am only a stupid country lout--isn't that the way? +And Zenz dances with you, and hangs on your neck, and turns her back on +me. So now, you see, I know all about it; I'm sober, too, and +understand my business as well as the next man. If the Herr Count would +perhaps like to row out upon the lake with the girl, Hiesl would +consider it an honor to provide a boat for his high-mightiness's +pleasure; and if the stupid country lout has to hold the light for the +Herr Count--" + +"Out of my way, you fool!" cried Felix, now angry in his turn at the +jealous fellow's crazy attack. "If you touch me with a finger, I'll +break every bone in your body. I don't understand a word of what you +have been raving about. The waiter-girl isn't my sweetheart, and if it +will give you any satisfaction, you can wait and see whether she will +steal out here to meet me. If you had your five senses about you, and +hadn't left your eyes behind in your beer-mug, you would see that I am +not your Herr Count. So get on! I'm in no humor to stand any more +nonsense!" + +The peasant made no answer, nor did he laugh any more; but stared +straight in Felix's face, and stood like a post. And now when Felix +stepped forward to pass by, he suddenly felt himself seized around the +waist and violently pushed back. The blood rushed madly to his +forehead. "You blackguard!" he cried, "if you will have it, you shall." + +He struck his adversary in the chest with such force that for a moment +the sturdy fellow's arms relaxed their hold. But the next instant he +felt himself grasped again and forced back to the edge of the wharf, +where the posts projected out of the water as high as a man's head, and +the water itself was deep enough to give plenty of room for the +steamer's keel. + +"You or I," gasped the furious peasant. "You or I! If she won't have +me, she sha'n't have you either, you damned city puppy!" He struggled +with renewed fury to push his enemy over the railing. But Felix was on +his guard. By a quick push he gained the shore side again, and forced +his opponent back almost to the last plank. For a moment the battle +paused. The next instant Felix felt a violent stab; a sharp-pointed +instrument had been thrust into him under the armpit between his breast +and shoulder, so that his left arm dropped paralyzed by his side. + +He felt at once that he was seriously wounded, and a terrible fury +seized upon him. "Murderer!" he cried; "you cowardly ruffian, you shall +pay for this!" + +Exerting all his strength, he threw the fellow to the ground, seized +his throat so firmly with his right hand that he could do nothing but +gasp, and would have strangled him had not the man, who had suddenly +become sober, and who was lying on the very edge of the wharf, been +crafty enough to draw the supple Spanish blade, with all his force, +across the hand that was choking him. The moment the bloody hand +released his throat, he slid over the edge of the wharf and immediately +vanished in the lake below. + +The dull, splashing noise of the fall suddenly brought the victor to +his senses. But he felt absolutely indifferent about the fellow's +rising again and gaining the shore. He had no other feeling than one of +disgust at this wild struggle in such a wretched cause. And now, when +he found himself alone on the high wharf, a cold shudder passed over +him, as if he had just shaken off a mad dog and hurled him into the +water. He peered down into the lake and then tried to laugh; but +shuddered anew at his own voice, that sounded so strange to him. Then, +too, the squeaking, idiotic clarionet and the comfortably grunting +bass-viol kept sounding in his ears;--what a world, in which all this +could be huddled so close together! Then, leaning on the railing, over +which the blood from his hand was trickling, he raised himself up, and +was conscious now, for the first time, of a piercing pain in his +shoulder. But his legs still bore him. Away, only away! was all he +thought. The resolution he had previously formed, before the murderous +fellow came in his way, rose clearly before his mind again, to hasten +to Starnberg, from there back to the city, from the city to the ends of +the earth. Only away! without looking back--no matter what was left +behind him! + +He took a few steps away from the wharf, in the direction of the road. +But he had not gone far when he lost consciousness, his knees gave way +beneath him, and he fell senseless on the rain-soaked earth. + +A moment after the house-door was opened, and Schnetz stepped out into +the open air, followed by Kohle, bearing a large umbrella. The old +countess had begged them to go out and see whether the return trip +might now be taken without danger. They themselves were anxious to +escape as soon as possible from the stifling, sultry tumult of the +wedding festival; while the others, who had caught the dancing fever, +did not appear to notice how the hours had slipped away. + +Schnetz cast but a single glance at the heavens, and then said, with +the confidence of an old soldier who has reconnoitred a hostile region: +"It's all right. We may give the signal for breaking camp. But first we +must take a look at the boats. What's become of the baron? Did you +notice, Kohle, that during the whole trip he has been in a mood like +that of a cat in a thunder-storm, for all he pretended to be so quiet? +_Nom d'un nom!_ I wish--" + +The word died on his lips. For just at that moment he caught sight of +him of whom he spoke, lying lifeless on the damp ground. He bent over +him in horror, and called him by his name. When no sound came in +answer, and only the pool of blood in which he lay gave sign of what +had happened, he quickly recovered his presence of mind and coolly +weighed the situation. + +"There's no medical assistance to be had in this hole," he said; "we +must row him over to Fat Rossel's villa, and send at once for the +Starnberg doctor, who fortunately is said to be a skillful man. What +are you sniveling in that wretched fashion for, Kohle? He isn't going +to die on the spot. In Africa I've seen a man pull through far worse +cases than this. Pluck up your spirits, man, and before all things +don't make a noise. Not a soul must know of this until we are safely in +our boat. We must take Rossel's boat for us three alone, so that he can +lie at full length; how the others will get home is their own lookout. +The young gentlemen will undoubtedly know how to help themselves out of +the scrape." + +He tore a leaf from his note-book, and wrote a few words upon it. "So, +give that to Red Zenz, the waiter-girl. She appears to me to be a +plucky sort of person who doesn't lose her head easily. She is not to +give the note to the young baroness, who is the only person here to +whom I owe an explanation, until we have embarked. Make haste, Kohle, +make haste. Meantime I'll be making a bed in the boat." + +In five minutes Philip Emanuel came running back again, with Zenz +following close at his heels. She did not speak a word, for Kohle had +enjoined the strictest silence upon her, but her face was as white as +chalk; and when she saw the wounded man she fell on her knees beside +him and groaned aloud. + +"Be quiet," commanded the lieutenant; "this is no time for whimpering. +Have you got a piece of linen, girl? We must make a bandage." + +Still remaining on her knees, she tore off her white apron and the +kerchief round her neck. It was only when Schnetz had hastily bound up +the shoulder and the wound in the hand, and, with Kohle's aid, had +carefully borne the unconscious form into the boat, that she raised +herself from the ground and followed the men to the shore. + +"I am going with you," she said softly, but very decidedly. "I must go +with you. I gave the note to the other waiter-girl; she will see that +it is delivered. For Christ's sake, let me go with you! Who else is +there to take care of him?" + +"Nonsense!" growled Schnetz; "he won't need any care on the way over, +and on the other side there is help enough. What are you thinking of, +girl? You can't run away from service in this free-and-easy way." + +"Who is to hinder me?" she said, laughing defiantly in the midst of all +her anxiety and wretchedness. "I belong to no one. I tell you I will go +with you, if it were only to hold his head on my lap on the way, so +that he would lie softer. If you won't take me with you--there's an old +dug-out over there--I'll row after you as true as my name is Zenz. I +must hear what the doctor says, and whether he will live." + +"Then come along, in the devil's name, you witch; but no shrieking and +bawling. Get into the boat, Kohle; so, lift him carefully now--and you, +girl, take a seat in the middle. It's true, it won't do any harm if he +has something softer under his head than this bundle of sticks." + +A few minutes more and the slender boat pushed off from the shore. +Schnetz rowed and Kohle sat at the tiller again; but, instead of the +merry company that had occupied these same seats but a few hours +before, amusing themselves with singing and flute-playing, there now +lay on the bottom of the boat a white, silent passenger, with closed +eyes; and at his head crouched a pale girl, who, from time to time, +silently dried with her long red locks the heavy drops of blood which +oozed out from under the bandages. Her head was sunk upon her breast. +The others must not see how the big tear-drops coursed steadily down +her cheeks. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + +Up-stairs, in a bare, meanly-furnished room of the tavern, lay Irene. + +The dim beams of the setting sun shone in through the little +window-panes, which were still dripping from the rain, but did not +penetrate to the sofa where the poor girl cowered in an agony of grief, +covering her face with her hands and vainly trying to close her ears so +tightly with the folds of her hood that she should not hear the music +of the waltz below. The walls and floors of the lightly-built upper +story groaned under the regular step of the dance. Never in all her +life, she thought, had she been more wretched and miserable, not even +in those gloomy days before she resolved to write Felix a letter of +farewell. Then there was still a certain greatness, dignity, and +harmony left both within and about her; now her condition was painful +and revolting to a degree that seemed almost pitiably ridiculous. + +She, lying up here in torture; and he down below in the best of +spirits, whirling about with a waiter-girl in his arms, to the music of +a peasant's orchestra--not among the other wedding-guests even, but +apart, secretly, in the way one only dances when one is very much in +the mood for it, or very much in love! She did not even have the +consolation of thinking he had done this merely out of defiance to her, +out of secret lovesickness and grief. He could not possibly have had a +suspicion that she would come down and surprise him at his dance; that +she would see how tightly the girl clung to him, and how reluctantly +she finally released herself from his arms. + +She had flown up-stairs as if pursued by a ghost, had pushed the bolt +to behind her with trembling hands, and had thrown herself on the hard +little sofa, and shut her eyes and bowed her head as if now the death +blow might fall at any moment. And down below, the jovial bassviol +hummed and buzzed, and the clarionet abandoned itself to the most +extravagant passages. + +For the moment she hated this man, whom heretofore, through all their +separation, she had mourned over as one does over a dead friend, who, +though lost, is still dear forever. When she thought that the hand +which had once caressed her had stroked the chin of this coarse +red-haired girl, a pang of bitter aversion shot through her heart, as +if she felt herself humiliated and dishonored by the mere association. +She shed no tears, but only because her pride rose up in all its +strength against such a proceeding. And yet she had to bite into the +silk lining of her hood with her little teeth in order to suppress her +sobbing and restrain her weeping. + +She felt that she must take some step to put an end to this unbearable +state of things; that she must start the very next morning on the +Italian journey which had been so unfortunately postponed. But to-day, +now, when before all else she must avoid meeting him again, she must +escape from this mad-house where she stood in positive danger of going +crazy herself. + +Just then a knock was heard at the door. She sprang to her feet in +alarm. If it should be he? if he had come, perhaps, to justify himself +to her; to excuse his outrageous behavior? + +She was incapable of uttering a sound; and, even after the knock had +been repeated a second time, she was unable to ask who was there. It +was only when she heard the voice of the waiter-girl, who called +through the door that she had a message to deliver to the Fraeulein, +that she found strength to drag herself with trembling knees to the +door, and open it. She took a note from the girl's hand, shook her head +quickly in reply to the question whether she wanted a light, and bolted +the door in the face of the hastily-dismissed messenger, who would have +been glad of a chance to talk a little. + +There was light enough at the window for her to decipher the martial +handwriting of the lieutenant. + + +"My friend has suddenly been taken very ill. I must transport him to +Rossel's villa without delay. Please to excuse my desertion to the +other ladies. Commending myself to the indulgence of my noble young +mistress, I remain, in the most devoted haste, + + "SCHNETZ." + + +"My friend"--she knew that no other could be meant than Felix; and yet +this news, which, at any other time, would have given her a deadly +shock, came to her now like a release from the bitterest torture. Would +she not bear anything rather than know that he was happy after the +wrong he had done her? Might not the outrageous scene she had just +witnessed be explained as coming from a freak of fever--from a last +flaring-up of his spirits before the final breaking-down? Then, in +spite of all, he was still worthy of her secret thoughts--ay, she even +owed him some apology, and could grieve for him, and show him that +sympathy which we owe to all who are in suffering. + +A heavy weight fell from her heart. She read the note a second time. +"Rossel's villa?"--that lay only half an hour's walk from theirs. She +might get news before the evening was over. Schnetz would very likely +come himself and tell her. + +But, while she was absorbed in such thoughts, she let her eyes sweep +across the lake, and saw the boat, rowed by Schnetz and Kohle, just +pushing off from the shore. The twilight was still bright enough to +enable her to distinctly recognize the girl in the waitress's dress, +who sat on the low seat and held the youth's head in her lap. If there +had still been any doubt in the watcher's mind, it would have been put +at rest by the sight of the red braids, with which the little Samaritan +appeared to be caressing the insensible man. + +With quick strokes of the oars the boat shot out on the broad surface +of the lake. A few minutes, and the figures in it had faded into +shadows. Soon, only a faint line on the lake's polished mirror +indicated the course the silent craft had taken. + +A quarter of an hour after, Irene entered the room next to the +dancing-hall, where the old countess was impatiently awaiting the +return of her cavalier, who had only left her to make preparations for +the homeward voyage. She was frightened by the Fraeulein's colorless +face, and overwhelmed her with anxious inquiries. Irene handed her the +lieutenant's note, in lieu of any other answer. The lively excitement +into which this very unfortunate incident threw the good lady diverted +her thoughts completely from Irene's condition. The young people, too, +who were hastily called away from their dancing, were far too much +occupied with one another, and with the question what was to be done, +to find anything odd in Irene's mute and stony manner. Besides, she had +already complained of a headache. The countess scolded at Schnetz for +having taken no thought of her. To whom could they intrust the guidance +of the vessel now? She flatly refused Elfinger's and Rosenbusch's +willingly-offered aid, nor would she listen to such a thing as their +looking about for a boatman in the house, but declared that now no +price would induce her to trust herself upon the water again. Instances +had been known where the wind had suddenly sprung up and driven back a +thunder-storm that had once passed over! + +In the mean while, the young count had been in consultation with the +landlord, and now came to report that a carriage could be ready +immediately, which would easily carry them to Starnberg inside of an +hour. The other party might then make use of their boat, unless they +should prefer to wait until the vehicle came back. But as the sky was +clear, and the night warm and lovely, both the sisters and Aunt Babette +thought it would be more advisable to make the voyage across than to +wait several hours more in the close house. + +So they took leave of the wedding-guests with more or less ceremony, +and made preparations for starting. The old countess, who, for several +hours past, had shown herself extremely gracious as long as Schnetz was +present to act as go-between, and the unknown young baron had lent a +certain respectability to his burgher friends, now suddenly seemed to +become conscious again of the gulf between her and the savers of her +life--particularly in the case of the girls, whom she did not honor +with another word. She gave Rosenbusch to understand, in pretty plain +language, that she was very angry with Schnetz, who had quite forgotten +all "_egards_" toward her, and had gone off without even coming to take +leave in person. The battle-painter, who found himself placed in a +rather embarrassing situation, was just on the point of making some +excuse for his absent friend, when suddenly the words stuck in his +throat. They had left the house in order to wait outside until the +carriage should be ready. There, on the white gravel close to the bank, +Rosenbusch saw a dark spot, from which a broad trail of drops ran down +as far as the landing-place. "Good God!" he cried. "What is this? +Blood? Freshly-shed blood? Countess, if this blood should really have +come from our baron, our friend Schnetz would undoubtedly be justified, +even by the severest court of honor, for having failed in the laws +of courtesy. I beseech you, don't let the others learn anything of +this--young ladies are so devilish timid and frightened at the sight of +blood--" + +Unfortunately the warning came too late. Irene had just stepped up to +the place where they were standing. When she caught sight of the +ghastly trace, she uttered a low cry, staggered back, and leaned for a +moment upon Rosenbusch, who officiously sprang to her assistance. This +scene caused the others to hasten up; and after the first shock was +over, they exhausted themselves in speculations upon this mysterious +occurrence. Who could possibly believe in hemorrhage in a young +man of such conspicuous strength and powerful figure? And as for a +fight--where were they to look for an adversary? + +The friends were still standing around the ghastly spot, shocked and +not knowing what to do, when one of the hostlers, belonging to the +hotel, came running up and told them he had also discovered traces of +blood on the landing-bridge, and this knife lying near them, on the +bank. It was not an ordinary peasant's knife with the blade fastened +firmly in the handle, but a slim dagger of Damascus steel, and the +handle bore a distinct impression of a bloody hand; no one except Irene +knew to whom it had belonged. + +In the mean while the carriage had driven up, and they lifted Irene in. +Though still suffering terribly, she struggled hard to maintain her +composure. The mother and daughter and the two young men crowded into +the other places as well as they could. Another short leave-taking, +whose brevity was perfectly explained by the gloomy mood they were all +in, and the aristocratic part of the company rolled away. + +A few minutes later the boat pushed off from the shore, rowed by +Rosenbusch and Elfinger. The night was still and clear, and the cool +wind blew, soft and damp, upon the girls' hot cheeks. But they sat +nestled close to one another, and gazed in silence at the sparkling +water; nor did either of the friends utter a word. Aunt Babette alone +made a slight attempt at conversation, by saying how amiable these +aristocratic persons were upon nearer acquaintance, and what a pity it +was they could not have returned home together; for she had been +telling the young count so much about Rosenbusch's flute-playing. + +As no one made any answer to all this, she, too, grew silent, folded +her hands in her lap, and appeared sunk in pious meditation. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + +It was close upon midnight when Irene's uncle returned, in his open +wagon, from a trip to the Ammersee. The old lion-hunter was in glorious +spirits; he had made several bull's-eyes at the shooting-match; had +made love to the ladies; and had found a willing ear for his most +fabulous African hunting-tales even among the men. Even his famous +story of how he had aimed a double-barreled English rifle at a lioness, +and had fired two shots so rapidly one after the other, that the ball +from the right barrel shot out the animal's right eye, and that from +the other the left--even this narrative, about whose truthfulness some +doubts had occasionally been expressed, was apparently swallowed in all +faith. The champagne had done all the rest; so that the happy man +started out of the sweetest dreams when his carriage drew up before the +wicket-gate of the Starnberg villa. + +He was surprised to see that the balcony-room was still lighted up. It +was not in the least like Irene to allow an affectionate anxiety for +her night-owl of an uncle to keep her awake, and all signs of light +were extinguished in the neighboring houses. Then it occurred to him +that perhaps Schnetz had decided to stay out overnight, and to sit up +until his return. He was glad of this, for it would afford him an +opportunity to give an account of his triumphs to a connoisseur in such +matters; and he was therefore disagreeably disappointed when, upon his +entering the little _salon_ up-stairs where the light was burning, his +young niece alone advanced to meet him. + +Her face looked so strangely agitated, her manner was so excited, that +his champagne spirits departed on the instant, and he asked, in great +alarm, what had happened, and what had become of friend Schnetz? and +why Irene, who was evidently unwell, had not gone to bed? + +Speaking rapidly and with difficulty, she gave him an account of what +had passed. Not until she had finished the story did the name of him +who had played the chief _role_ in this bloody catastrophe pass her +lips. + +But the effect produced by her account was very different from what she +had expected. + +Instead of expressing horror and sympathy the lively gentleman ran +around the room uttering a cry of joy, rubbing his hands and behaving +himself generally in such a delighted way, that Irene regarded him with +amazement, and finally asked him whether he had been listening to her, +or whether his thoughts were still with the merry hunting-party he had +just quitted. + +"No, no! my dearest child," he cried, suddenly halting before her. "You +suspect me wrongly. Unfortunately I am accustomed to being +misunderstood by you, and to being accused of a frivolity which +sometimes overtakes me even in those moments when my proud little niece +assumes her most tragic tone. But, believe me, Irene dear, I see no +reason in this whole catastrophe that you have told me of to change my +way of thinking. That our Felix has lost a few drops of blood will not +do the scapegrace any particular harm, perhaps, and will take the +wildness out of him a little. At the worst, there will be no immediate +bad consequence--for that I can trust my good old Schnetz; and +Providence will not be so foolish as to send such a fine young fellow +over the bourn by such a miserable knife-scratch as this. And if we +escape with a simple fright, the whole situation will be left in the +best condition imaginable to repair some foolish errors that we have +made. Come, my child! Look me in the face, and confess that in secret +you are of my opinion." + +She looked him directly in the eyes, but with a sad expression. + +"We misunderstand one another again, uncle." + +"Say, rather, you don't think it becoming to wish to understand my +honest and candid opinion. But, since you are ten times brighter and +more diplomatic than an old hunter and soldier like myself--" + +"I entreat you, uncle--" + +"You can't fail to understand, without any further explanations on my +part, that it amuses me enormously to see our youngster Felix, whom I +imagined to be wandering about God knows where, a sighing and rejected +suitor, suddenly turn up next door to us. Do you mean to tell me that +chance has arranged all this so skillfully? Pooh, pooh!--you can't +cheat me. I tell you he has been traveling after us, and has secretly +followed his old flame, whom he still worships, into the primeval +forests of Starnberg and across the tempestuous lake of Wuerm; and, +since there was no other way of making up to you again with any +self-respect, he has adopted the very wisest course, and one that never +fails in its effect upon you soft-hearted souls, namely, that of +creeping into your sympathy by means of a few ounces of spilt blood, of +which article, by-the-way, he still possesses a very fair abundance. +And now--" + +"Unless you want me to leave the room, uncle, spare me these perfectly +groundless insinuations. Have I not told you that he had no suspicion +of our plan to make a stay in Munich, and that Schnetz told me how he +entered a studio with his old friend Jansen, with the intention of +becoming a sculptor? But even if it were all just as you have arranged +it in your own mind--what difference would it make in my resolution? +Hasn't this unfortunate meeting proved the truth of all that I said to +myself when I gave him back his promise?--has it not confirmed my +belief that we could never be happy together? And yet, you imagine I +would think differently of him because he now lies dangerously ill, and +perhaps dying, of wounds which were undoubtedly given him by his rival, +that peasant fellow--in a fight--about a tavern-waiter--" + +Her voice failed her; she turned away to repress her tears; but her +passionate pain overcame her, and, bursting into uncontrollable +sobbing, she sank back on a chair near the open door leading on to the +balcony. + +Even the jovial mood of her good-hearted foster-father was not proof +against this passionate outburst of long-suppressed feeling. He had +always regarded the girl's self-possessed bearing with amazement, and +had secretly attributed to her a certain coldness of heart, for she had +never given him an insight into the struggles and storms of her young +life. And now she sat before him like a child that has given way to its +grief, deaf, apparently, to all comforting words and caresses. + +"You will bring things to such a pass," he cried, in ludicrous +desperation, "that I shall be forced to take up my old trade, and go +out lion-hunting again in my old age. Upon my word it's less wearing +work than having anything to do with a pair of estranged lovers, who +will neither come together nor yet separate entirely. The thing worked +passably as long as you were able to face it out. After all, although I +always looked upon it as a piece of foolishness for you to give such a +lover his dismissal, just because he didn't want to kiss the slipper +before his marriage: still, I supposed you must know what you were +about, and it was impossible for me to supply a mother's place toward +you, and explain how we men ought to be managed. At all events, things +ran smoothly, and we went on living peacefully together. But now, when +the ice suddenly breaks and you lose all control over yourself--tell +me, what in the world am I to do? My experience with wild animals has +made me something of a savage; but I instantly become the most cowardly +and chicken-hearted of domestic animals if a woman--and particularly +one I care so much for--begins to cry in my presence." + +She suddenly drew herself up, shook back her curls and passed her hand +across her eyes. + +"You shall not have to complain of it again, uncle," she said, in a +determined tone; "most assuredly, never again. You are right; it is +foolish to cry about something that was all over long ago. You will +never, never see me do it again." + +"My brave girl!" he said, embracing her and kissing her wet cheek, a +liberty he very seldom ventured to take. "I am glad you still care a +little for your old uncle. But now, go to bed, for it has grown so +late--" + +"To bed!--in this terrible state of anxiety? What are you thinking of, +uncle? Will it be possible for you to sleep?" + +"Why not, you little goose? Ay, the sleep of the righteous, for I have +done my duty to-day, and have shown how our race can shoot--" + +"And you can deep before you know how he is?--and what the doctor has +said? I should have sent over to inquire before this, but the people of +the house are all asleep, and my maid Louisa is a stranger here and +would not be able to find the place." + +"And you think I myself--well, I must confess!--at one o'clock at +night, tired to death by all my laurels--" + +"Uncle, unless you want to see me die of anxiety--" + +She threw herself into his arms, and clung to him in such helpless +entreaty that he could not resist. Sighing, and bitterly cursing in his +heart the feminine caprice which could first cast off a fine young +fellow and then make her life hang on his, he left the house once more. + +She called down to him from the balcony, gave him the directions for +finding the nearest way to the physician's house, and then stood there +motionless, in the cool night air, waiting for his return. + +He came back in a quarter of an hour, but brought no comforting +intelligence. The physician had not yet returned from Rossel's villa, +and would, in all probability, spend the night there. He had made the +physician's wife, whom he had routed up out of her sleep, promise +faithfully to send news the first thing in the morning. + +So there was no help for it, the night had to be passed in the most +agonizing state of uncertainty. + +But before the sun had long been shining across the lake, the physician +came in proper person; led, not only by the message that had been left +for him the night before, but also by a note that Schnetz had +commissioned him to deliver to his old comrade and brother-in-arms. In +this missive, in his own odd style, he supplemented the physician's +bulletin by all sorts of details. The wound in the hand, he said, in +conclusion, was, it was to be hoped, of no great account; a sinew had +been grazed, but not cut through, so that the determination of this +noble youth to augment the number of breadless stone-hewers would, in +all probability, not be defeated by the brutal intervention of a +Bavarian fist. The physician, on the other hand, reported that the +wound in the left shoulder was not altogether without danger, as the +stab had reached the extremity of one of the lungs, and a long rest and +course of nursing would be necessary before the arm could be used +again. For the rest, the patient would receive the best of care in Herr +Rossel's villa; his blood and circulation were in a thoroughly healthy +condition, and serious danger was quite out of the question. + +The doctor, who had never before seen the baron and the beautiful, +silent Fraeulein, and who found nothing strange in her sympathy, as she +had formed one of the party on the day before, soon took his leave, +with a promise to keep them regularly informed about the case. Scarcely +had he gone, when Irene declared she would not go away from the place +until all danger was over; but that then she would not breathe the air +on this side of the Alps a moment longer--it weighed upon her spirits. + +Her uncle had to give her his word of honor that he would consent to +this arrangement, and also that he would not let Schnetz observe how +deeply they were both interested in the wounded man, but would explain +their sympathy as arising from pure philanthrophy. And it really was +nothing more than that, she said. + +Even though every inner bond was severed between them, still, she would +never be able to answer for it to her conscience if she should start +off before the question whether he might not possibly need her had been +definitely set at rest. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + +Was it nothing but abstract philanthropy that suffered Irene to find no +rest in any place or any occupation all that day, in spite of the +comforting assurances of the doctor?--that drove her from the piano to +the writing-desk, from the writing-desk out on to the balcony, and from +the garden down to the shore? Not a step sounded on the floor, not a +carriage rolled past in the street, but what she trembled. She had +herself sufficiently under control, however, not to betray her +nervousness by a single word. But her feverish restlessness did not +escape her uncle, who, the night before, had gained for the first time +a clear insight into a nature usually so proud. He was secretly +rejoiced at this, much as he pitied the poor child in her restless +grief. For the first time in years he felt that he was the wiser of the +two; that he was being justified by the course things were taking, and +that his good advice, which had once been scorned, was now redounding +to his credit. But as he really loved her, he behaved with the most +labored delicacy and consideration toward the young sufferer; never +touched her hidden wound by a single word, and only grumbled now and +then at the faithless Schnetz, who, considering the slight distance +that separated them, might certainly have come over and given him a +report of the patient by word of mouth. + +He knew that this thought was never out of Irene's mind for a moment, +and that all her listening and waiting turned upon it. But when the +afternoon came, and no new message made its appearance, he threw his +rifle over his shoulder, kissed the hand of his pale little niece, and +left the house to scour the woods for a while. If Schnetz should show +himself in the mean while, they were to hold him prisoner for the +evening. + +Scarcely did Irene find herself alone, when she fancied she could not +breathe the air in the close little rooms any longer. She hastily +caught up her sketch-book, put on her hat, and called her maid to +accompany her for a walk. She had recently discovered a picturesque +spot, with old trees and high ferns, farther back in the woods, which +she wanted to sketch. She trusted that she should be able to find it +again. + +Once outside in the streets, she took such quick steps that the girl +could hardly keep up with her. But Louisa was too well-trained to take +the liberty of asking any inquisitive questions. That her mistress was +not just as usual; that she kept her head turned away as much as +possible, and did not address a single word to her faithful attendant, +she could not, indeed, help noticing. But then these high ladies have +their moods. At first, the Fraeulein seemed to be looking around, right +and left, in search of the goal of her artistic efforts. Then, after +they had walked along the forest-road for about a quarter of an hour, +and one villa after another, lying amid park and garden shrubbery, +began to appear on the bank of the lake to the left, the most lovely +old tree-trunks and foreground effects could not win a look from her. +Several times she stood still before one of the gates, and appeared to +be speculating as to who might live in the house beyond. The day +before, Schnetz had given her, in his favorite manner, a humorous +description of "Fat Rossel's" villa, and had cut a silhouette of its +occupant out of a piece of blotting-paper. These were but weak clews. +So she went on farther and farther, and her cheeks grew more and more +flushed from the rapid exercise, and her companion, who was rather +inclined to corpulence, found it harder than ever to keep up with her. + +At last she ventured to ask a laborer whom they met, carrying a +pick-axe and shovel, where Herr Rossel's villa was. The man pointed to +a park-fence made of rough, pine stakes, and was very much amazed when +the young lady rewarded this trivial service with a bright half-gulden. + +"Louisa," the Fraeulein said, standing still for a moment to recover her +breath and push back her hair, "you will wait for me outside here. I +have to make some inquiries about something in the garden, and will be +back directly. The spot where I meant to sketch lies off to the right, +in the middle of the wood, and I see now that the afternoon light will +not be as favorable as I thought. It doesn't matter. I shall still be +able to draw a few lines. In the mean while hold my sketch-book--or no, +I will take it with me--you would be sure to get the leaves out of +order. Sit down there on that stump. I sha'n't be gone more than five +minutes." + +The girl obeyed without a word. She had never before heard the name of +the gentleman about whom Irene inquired. She tried to make out some +connection in the whole mysterious affair. But as she did not succeed, +she soon gave up thinking about it, and rejoiced at this comfortable +rest in the cool quiet of the woods after her quick walk. + +In the mean time her young mistress had hurried over the rest of the +way. The park in the rear of Rossel's little house appeared to be quite +empty and deserted, nor was any one to be seen at the windows. For a +moment she stood hesitating at the little wicket-gate before she could +muster up courage to lift the latch. Then she opened the gate quickly +and entered the little shady inclosure, through which wound a number of +well-swept gravel paths. + +But now, as she stepped out from among the pines, and saw before her +the flower-garden and the lawn, whose green turf extended to the +threshold of the house, she stopped in alarm, and would have given a +great deal could she have retired into the shadow again unobserved. For +right in front of her, in the midst of a clump of tall rosebushes from +which she was cutting the finest flowers for a bouquet, stood Zenz, who +recognized her at the first glance, and did not appear at all surprised +to meet the Fraeulein here again, after the events of the day before. + +She gave Irene a good-natured and confidential nod, and said, without +waiting to be addressed: + +"You have come most likely to inquire after the Herr Baron--haven't +you, now? Well, I am much obliged for your kind inquiry; and he is +getting on just as well as ever as he can, the doctor says. Only he +must be kept very quiet and can't receive any visits from strangers. +That's the reason we carried him right off last evening into the studio +up there in the turret, where he can't hear a sound from the kitchen +and the rooms below; so that even when old Katie has one of her +tantrums, and storms and raves about, it won't disturb his peace at +all. But not a soul can go in to see him except Herr von Schnetz, Herr +Kohle, Herr Rossel--and I, of course, because I am his nurse. I have +just run down into the garden to cut him a few roses. It's a good thing +to have something pretty by a sick person's bed, so that it will please +him when he wakes up. Meantime Herr Kohle is sitting by him and looking +after the ice bandages." + +While she was prattling on in this _naive_ strain, Irene had the +greatest difficulty in restraining her secret aversion toward the girl, +who innocently went on with her work; appearing quite a reputable +person, too, now that she was without her waitress's apron, and had her +red braids simply coiled around her head. + +"I wish to speak to Lieutenant von Schnetz a moment," replied Irene, in +the coldest possible tone, "since, as you say, he is not busy just now +in the sick chamber--" + +"The lieutenant? He is asleep. See, Fraeulein, over there where the +curtains are let down. He has been lying there for the last two hours, +trying to make up a little bit for what he lost last night. Good +Heavens! What a fright we did have! and every one had more than his +hands full before we could get a decent bandage made, especially as old +Katie couldn't have been waked out of her sleep if the world had been +coming to an end. So I staid here, too, so that there might be some one +to wait on the gentlemen. There are so many things about which men +folks, even the very wisest of them, are as foolish as little children. +Isn't it so, Fraeulein? And then--I couldn't bear to be anywhere else, +until I know that he is sure to get sound and well again. When people +have known each other as well as we two--and only to think that such a +thing as this could happen, and that a splendid handsome gentleman like +him should be almost stabbed to death just because of a poor girl like +me, and he quite innocent, too--" + +Irene had made a movement as though to leave the place as quickly as +possible. These last words made her think better of it. + +"Innocent?" she said, carelessly, without looking at Zenz. "Do you +know, then, how it all came about?" + +"To be sure I do," cried the girl, eagerly; "I was the cause of it all! +I wouldn't have anything to say to him, to Hiesl, I mean, and why +shouldn't I confess that I like the baron! There can't be a handsomer +or better man in the world, and when he smiles upon you, in his kind +way, you seem to feel it away down in your heart. And yet he isn't +proud at all, nor impudent and bad to a poor girl, like other young +gentlemen; it isn't any disgrace for me to like him better than a rough +fellow like Hiesl. Oh! Fraeulein, I don't know how you feel about love, +or whether you have a sweetheart, but I--before I saw the Herr Baron +one man was just the same to me as another, and now it seems as if +there were only this one man under God's heaven; and whatever he says +and wants, that I must do, as if it were the Lord himself who ordered +me. But he--and you may believe this on my honor and as I hope to be +saved--he never thinks of such a thing. He knows well enough how I feel +toward him, but he never gives me a thought, and though I'm not pretty +I can't be so very ugly either. At all events if I wanted to I could +twist Herr Rossel round my little finger. But many thanks! I would +rather love one who doesn't care a bit about me, than be loved by one +that I don't like!" + +Meantime she had gone on tying up her bouquet, and now she held it up +with a bright laugh which showed all her white teeth. "Isn't it +beautiful?" she said. "But you won't even look at it, Fraeulein. Don't +you like flowers?" + +Irene started out of a deep reverie. Her cheeks burned, and she +struggled vainly to maintain her reserve toward this girl, whose frank +and perfectly unselfish nature she could not help liking, do what she +would. + +"And you think it perfectly proper?" she managed at last to say. "It +never occurred to you that you are doing anything out of the way in +openly following into a strange house, where there are other men, some +one who does not care anything about you? Though, to be sure, what does +it matter to me what you do or don't do?" + +The girl let fall the hand that held the flowers, and gazed straight +into the eyes of this young preacher of morality, with an expression +that betrayed much more surprise than anger. + +"Run after him?" she repeated. "No, Fraeulein, I should never think of +such a thing; that _would_ be stupid. For Black Theresa, where I used +to live, has often told me that men only like a poor girl so long as +they have to run after _her_. And because I didn't feel sure of myself, +and knew that if I lived in the same city with him I could not live +without seeing him and watching for him at the places where he usually +went--so that I should grow hateful to him at last, while now he is at +least kind to me--I came out here into the country and hired myself out +as a waiter-girl in the inn over yonder. But you see for yourself I was +not to get away from him; and now, when he lies at the point of death, +all along of a silly thing like me, and needs my help--no, Fraeulein, I +didn't blame myself at all for having run after him, and I should +consider myself a very bad and heartless girl indeed, if I thought +anything about myself and what people might say. I would follow him +through a forest of wild beasts just to nurse him, and why not into a +house full of good friends of his, none of whom would bite me, just +because all have seen that I don't do it for love of them, but only for +the sake of him who doesn't care the least bit about me. There, now, +don't be angry with me for having told you this right out. I must go +back into the house and see whether Herr Kohle needs any fresh ice from +the cellar. Shall I give him any message from you; tell him that you +called, and hoped he would soon get well?" + +Irene had turned away. She felt herself so put to shame by the nature +of this girl, whom she had thought so far beneath her; her own behavior +looked so mean, narrow, and selfish reflected in the mirror of this +absolute, humble, joyful self-sacrifice, and the thought that she must +relinquish to another the place at his sick-bed so cut her to the heart +that she could not restrain her tears, and did not even think of trying +to hide her overflowing eyes from the astonished girl. + +"Go back to him and give him a message from me!--and nurse him--and--I +will come again--to-morrow, at this time--no one need know about it +besides yourself. What is your name?" + +"Crescenz. But they only call me Red Zenz." + +"Good-by, Crescenz--I did you wrong! You are a good girl--far, far +better than many others. Adieu!" + +She held out her hand to the bewildered girl, who was at a loss how to +reconcile the Fraeulein's sudden kindness with her former coldness. Then +she turned hastily, and disappeared among the cedar-trees in the park. + +Shaking her head, Zenz stood gazing after her. + +"She is in love with him, too, that is certain!" she said to herself; +and then it occurred to her that Felix had immediately asked her about +this Fraeulein, yesterday at the inn. In her thoughts she placed the two +side by side, and was forced to admit, with a quiet sigh, that they +looked as if they were made for one another. She did not trouble +herself particularly as to how far matters had gone between them. For +that matter she never had any thoughts for anything except what was +near at hand; and, as she looked at her bouquet and said to herself +that she should be praised for bringing it, her round face broke into a +smile again and she tripped gayly into the house. + +In the studio up-stairs, by the side of a low couch on which Felix was +lying in a feverish sleep, sat Fat Rossel, who seemed to have +completely shaken oft his indolence, now that he had to do with so +serious an affair. He had, it is true, had his American rocking-chair +brought upstairs, but otherwise he vied with his friends in performing +the duties of the sick-room. It is possible, too, that the proximity of +the girl, whose sudden appearance under his roof had made him very +thoughtful, had been instrumental in working this miracle. Not only the +sarcastic Schnetz, but even the innocent and artless Kohle, had been +struck, from the very first, by the respectful and almost chivalrous +manner with which he, usually so hard to move, bore himself toward the +girl, little grateful or susceptible as she showed herself for his +homage. She sought to be nothing in the house but an extra servant, and +conducted herself quietly and modestly toward old Katie; and it was +only when a question arose about the care of the wounded patient that +she expressed her opinion unasked. It was soon evident that, with all +her narrowness and her extremely limited education, she had a natural +preference for everything tasteful, convenient, and pleasant, so that +the little household ran like clockwork, and old Katie found no time to +grumble at the increase in the number of the family, but could give +herself up, just as before, to her quiet vice. + +Kohle stood at his easel. In spite of the excitement of an almost +sleepless night, his tireless fancy still kept on working, and he was +engaged at this moment in transferring the little sketch of the second +picture to a sheet of the size of the first completed cartoon. + +"You are, and always will be, a confirmed idealist," said Rossel, in a +low tone, without raising his eyes from Felix's sleeping figure. +"Instead of taking advantage of the opportunity and making some +splendid studies from real life here, you quietly work away at your +fables and turn your back on this fine specimen of Nature." + +"I merely want to sketch in the outlines of the figures," the artist +responded. "It flashed across me, early this morning, to try whether +they will do on a large scale as well as in the sketch. I think, after +all, I shall have to shift this central group a little more to the +left, so as to give the whole more symmetry." + +"Any stranger hearing you talk in this way, Kohle, my boy, would +suppose you were such an unsympathetic art-machine that even in the +midst of murder and violence you could think of nothing but your Venus. +But I know that with you it is merely an unconscious way of keeping up +your heart, just as Schnetz drank a glass of schnapps and I smoked a +chibouque after the first pull was over. Every one has a specific by +which he swears, and yours, moreover, is one of the sort that never +runs dry. But now, just come here and take a look at this model. After +all, these aristocratic families now and then produce some fine +specimens, turned out after the true _noblesse oblige_ principle. What +a neck and shoulders this youngster has! And just see, Kohle, how the +biceps stands out through his tight-fitting shirt-sleeves. A young +Achilles, _corpo di Bacco!_ Upon my word I should just like, now, in +this soft evening light, if I only had colors and canvas--" + +"I can help you out with those," interrupted Kohle, also speaking in a +carefully suppressed voice. "I provided myself with a palette only +yesterday--old Katie wants to have her portrait painted for her +grandchild--I think the canvas--" + +"Don't bother yourself about it, my good fellow. Perhaps, after all, it +is more sensible of me to study him with my eyes. But look, he tosses +about so often! And now again, it's fine the way the forehead is +rounded out, and then the splendid form of the brows. No wonder he has +good luck with the women; and that even that witch Zenz, who, as a +general thing, is as unapproachable as you please, runs after this fine +fellow like Kaetchen von Heilbronn. I only wish--" + +At this moment the door opened, and she of whom he was speaking stole +in on tiptoe with her bouquet. But, light as her step was, it seemed to +have awakened the sleeper. He groaned slightly, threw his right arm +above his head and then slowly opened his eyes. + +"Beautiful flowers!" he murmured. "Good-morning! How goes it!--how is +art getting on?" + +Then, without waiting for an answer, and as if he were recalling to his +mind a face that had appeared to him in his dreams, he said: + +"I only wish I knew--whether it were really she. Has any one--asked +after me?" + +Zenz approached softly and held the bouquet before him, so that his +pale face blushed from the reflection of the dark roses, and said, in a +whisper: + +"I have a message for you from the beautiful Fraeulein; she was down in +the garden to inquire after you, and she hopes you will soon be well +again. Oh, you know who I mean! The one over yonder, who didn't want to +dance with the rest." + +His eyes still rested on the bouquet; the words that he heard overcame +him with such happiness and bliss that he believed he was still +dreaming. By a powerful effort he raised his head a little, so as to +hide his burning face in the flowers. "Zenz," he said, "is that--really +true?" + +"As true as I live; and she even began to cry at last, so that I felt +sorry for her myself, although--" + +A smile passed over the sick man's lips. He tried to speak, but his +emotion had been too violent. A dizziness overcame him, and, with a +gentle sigh, which did not sound like a sigh of pain, he closed his +eyes and immediately sunk back into a quiet slumber. + + + + + + _BOOK V_. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +On a pleasant afternoon, a few days later, Jansen, Julie, and Angelica +started from the city for the Starnberg villa. + +The drive was silent and sad, for Jansen had been deeply moved by what +had happened, and Julie's heart was full of sympathy for his anxiety. +To the disappointment of all, when they reached Rossel's house, that +worthy met them with a grave face and reported that the doctor had +ordered absolute quiet, and had forbidden all exciting visits. He led +the ladies into the little _salon_ and had some refreshments brought by +Zenz, who opened her eyes wide at Julie in unconcealed admiration. But +they were none of them in a mood to taste anything. They waited with +beating hearts to hear what news Jansen would bring back, for nothing +could dissuade him from going up to the sick man's room. + +Felix lay as before in a half-sleeping state, so that Schnetz, whose +watch it happened to be, thought it would do no harm to admit his +friend. But they merely greeted one another with a silent nod. Then the +sculptor stepped up to the sick-bed of his Icarus, and, turning his +head away from the others, stood there motionless for full ten minutes. +Schnetz, who had seated himself again on the stool before the easel and +was cutting out a silhouette, noticed that a trembling, like that of +suppressed sobs, shook Jansen's massive frame. He was surprised at +this, for he did not know in what intimate relations the two had stood +to one another. + +"There is no danger," he said, in a low voice; "a few weeks and he will +be able to mount his horse again. How he will get on with his modeling +is not so certain. That cut over the right hand was very heavy. But I +imagine that will be your least sorrow." + +The sculptor did not answer. + +But the wounded man seemed to have caught a word or two of what Schnetz +had whispered. He slowly opened his heavy, feverish eyes, and, with a +dreamy smile that gave a sweet, arch look to his pale face, he +muttered: + +"Sorrow!--why should any one be sorry? The world is so beautiful--even +pain does one good. No, no, we will laugh--laugh--and drink to the +health--" + +He made a movement, and the piercing pain it caused him roused him +thoroughly. He recognized the silent figure at his bedside. + +"Hans, my old Daedalus!" he cried, making a motion of his hand toward +his friend, "is it you? Good!--this is capital! This gives me more +pleasure--than I can tell you! Have you left your Paradise to come out +here? Oh, if you knew--you see I must not talk much--I could not, even +if I would--else--Heavens! what things--I should have to tell you! And +you me, wouldn't you, old boy? Between ourselves, it wasn't just as it +should have been--we knew almost nothing at all about one another--you +had your head full, and I too. But now, as soon as I am able to talk +again--you know that no human being is what you are to me--except +one--except one--and even she--" + +Schnetz rose with considerable noise, stepped up to the bed, and said: +"Fresh ice is of more account just now than warm old friendship. So +stop a bit!" + +He made a sign to Jansen to go out without waiting to take leave, and +then busied himself about his nurse's duties, while Felix's looks and +words soon grew confused again. + +It was some time before Jansen returned to the ladies, who had been +carrying on a rather monosyllabic conversation with the master of the +house. Julie saw at once from her lover's face how much this meeting +with his sick friend had moved him. She offered to remain out here with +Angelica, in the house, or at least in the neighborhood, so as to +lighten the duties of the men as much as possible. "Let us stay, my +dear Herr Rossel," she entreated; "we shall have no difficulty in +finding a room somewhere in the neighborhood. Angelica will make flower +studies, and I will rip cloth for bandages, and pick lint. A woman +without talents, like myself, is invaluable at such a time." + +Rossel declined all these proposals, nor would he hear of such a thing +as Jansen's staying to assist them. They three sufficed to do anything +that men could do. And the female department was also in the best of +hands. Then he began to expatiate with much warmth upon the tireless +energy and willingness of Red Zenz, who had not returned to the +_salon_, saying he thought he owed it to the good child not to hurt her +feelings by accepting any other help than hers and that of his old +house-keeper. In spite of their wish the friends had to yield; but they +made him promise, at parting, that he would send for them at once in +case the duties became more onerous, or he should find they had not +force enough. + +In addition to this, Kohle promised to send them news daily. + +One other subject came up for discussion during this visit. Even in the +first excitement, Schnetz had urged that they should report the affair, +and have Hiesl, the murderous boatman, handed over to the courts. The +latter had the audacity to go about in Starnberg, and to work at his +calling, as if nothing had happened; indeed, he was reported to have +boasted of the whole affair, and to have said: "I hope I have spoiled +the honorable gentleman's sport for a few weeks, at least." This +cold-blooded, triumphant defiance enraged the lieutenant, and he would +have liked to give the fellow a good lesson. Rossel, however, opposed +this--chiefly in order to spare Zenz, who would undoubtedly be summoned +as a witness, and have to go before a jury. Jansen sided with him, +because he was convinced that it would go against his friend's nature +to see any man--however loath he might be to regard him as a worthy +antagonist--with whom he had fought man to man, accused as a criminal, +and made to suffer punishment through any act of his. As Kohle, +likewise, inclined to this view of the case, it was decided not only to +do nothing about the matter for the present, but also to avoid, if +possible, any independent interference on the part of justice. + +The friends soon after took their leave, all deeply impressed by the +gravity of the patient's case and by their visit. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + +But there was one of their traveling-companions who remained behind at +the villa. It is needless to say that Homo accompanied them on their +visit to his sick friend, not traveling, of course, as others of his +race do, in the low compartment reserved for dogs--but in a _coupe_ +with his master and the ladies; for everybody knew him, and esteemed +him highly for his superior traits of character. At the last station he +found it too close for him in the narrow compartment. He escaped into +the open air, and bounded along by the side of the train for the rest +of the way. But as he had gotten out of the habit of taking such +youthful runs, and as the way was hot, he made the remaining part +of the journey--from Starnberg to Rossel's villa--at a snail's +pace, and with hanging head and thirsty tongue. Upon reaching the +sick-chamber--after having greeted the wounded Felix with a low, +half-angry, half-mournful howl--he stretched himself out at the foot of +the bed, and nothing could induce him to forsake his resting-place when +Jansen took his leave. He pretended to be asleep, and the friends were +too much accustomed to respect him as an independent, intelligent being +to disturb his rest. + +Then, too, he conducted himself; after he had recovered his strength, +with exceeding tact and modesty; demanded no particular care or +attention from anybody, for he evidently saw that they had little time +to spare for him, and accepted with a good grace whatever fell to his +share. He would have been much better provided for down-stairs in the +kitchen, but he evidently thought it would be selfish for him to leave +his place at the sick-bed for the sake of a better meal, and he passed +the greater part of the day at the patient's side; for Felix loved to +pass his heavy hand, half in a dream, over his back, and when he was +awake to address all sorts of caressing speeches to him. + +At other times the sick man let his dim, feverish eyes rove about the +studio; examined Kohle's cartoon, which was slowly making progress, +nodded gratefully and contentedly to his silent watchers--to whichever +one happened to be on post at the moment--and then sunk back again into +a refreshing slumber, often with a name on his lips which none of his +attendants understood. + +The possessor of this name had not appeared in the garden again since +that first visit. Her uncle, on the other hand, rode by daily, drew up +at the gate whenever there happened to be any one within hail, or else +dismounted and, after tying his horse, went into the house, to inquire +about the invalid. This did not excite remark, for he was an old +acquaintance of the lieutenant, and his niece had made one at the fatal +water-party. Zenz, alone, although as a rule little given to pondering, +had her own thoughts in regard to the interest which uncle and niece +took in an utter stranger, and they only tended to confirm her former +surmises. + +The reports from the sick-chamber were not the most favorable that +could have been wished. The healing of the wound in the shoulder went +on, it is true, without interruption--but slowly, on account of the +restlessness and feverishness of the patient. On the following Sunday, +when Jansen came out again with Rosenbusch and the actor, the fever +had, indeed, disappeared; but even now the visits to the sick man were +not allowed to last more than ten minutes, for the physician had +strictly forbidden all conversation until the wound in the lung should +have completely healed. Rosenbusch's offer to relieve Schnetz was +declined--greatly to his sorrow, which was only partially relieved by +Felix begging him to play his flute for a little while in the garden +under the window. Of Elfinger's proposal to read aloud to him, he +promised to take advantage later. He showed constantly how happy the +devoted care of his friends made him, and held the hand of his +"Daedalus" tightly clasped in his own during the whole of the visit, +with a tenderness such as he rarely exhibited before others. + +Homo was to have returned with the three visitors, but even now he +could not be induced to do so. + +On the day after this second visit Kohle was standing down-stair in the +dining-room at a time which, according to the orders of the day, he +should have devoted to sleep to strengthen himself for his night-watch. +But he could find no rest until he finally put his hand to the work +that burned within his soul. Although the walls had not yet been +prepared for frescoing, but still wore their old stone-gray tint, he +had, by way of experiment, set to work to draw with charcoal an +architectural frame for his cycle of pictures--a row of round-arched +arcades with sturdy Romanesque pillars, resting upon bases connected by +a plain foundation. There were just the same number of arches as the +Venus legend contained separate scenes, and the panels in the spandrils +over the pillars were to contain the portraits of the friends who had +assembled under this roof. This portrait-gallery was begun with the +beautiful head of Jansen's betrothed, who was certainly well fitted to +contest the first rank with Dame Venus (as the latter had been depicted +by Kohle's fancy, at least), while at the end of the row, the round, +good-natured face of Angelica, with its merry, flowing curls, peered +forth in all its plainness. Zenz and old Katie were to be immortalized +among the people in the convents. + +Kohle had traced the outlines of the decoration with a bold hand, and +had even allowed himself to be so carried away by his delight as to +begin to fill in the first panel with its whole sketch; for he was +anxious to convince the ever skeptical and critical Rossel how +excellently it would fit into the space allotted to it. But he was +suddenly interrupted by an unexpected visit. + +In looking back to that first evening in Paradise, the indulgent reader +may perhaps find some difficulty in recalling a modest figure that took +small part in the bacchanalian excitement of the younger members, and +made no noise himself. But, even if the old man with the calm face and +snow-white hair should be still unforgotten, the figure that now came +tottering into the little hall with unsteady walk, agitated face, and +an old straw hat stuck on the side of his head like a drunken man's, +would find no recognition. + +"For God's sake, Herr Schoepf, what's happened to you?" cried the +painter, as he threw aside his crayon. "You look terribly! Do tell +me--" + +The old man threw himself on the nearest divan, and gasped as though +compelled to draw his breath from some deep well. + +"Is it you, Herr Kohle?" he finally stammered out with much difficulty; +"I sincerely beg your forgiveness for bursting in on you in this way, +without being announced--but don't let me disturb you. Once more I beg +you to excuse me; but there are times when all one's good manners--no, +no, I won't drink anything," he cried, interrupting himself, for he saw +that Kohle had reached out his hand for the bottle of sherry that had +been left from breakfast and still stood on the table--"not a drop, +Herr Kohle--Oh, God! who would have imagined it!" + +He sank back on the sofa again after an unsuccessful attempt to rise, +and muttered unintelligibly to himself, as old people so often do. + +The painter was greatly shocked. He had always honored this old +gentleman as a very model of cheerful equanimity and clear-headedness; +and in many of his professional or personal troubles he had often felt +disposed to go and ask his advice, which he always gave with great +wisdom and gentleness. And now Kohle saw him sitting there helpless and +unmanned, like a night-bird that has lost its way in the daylight, and +closes its eyes and tries to shrink into itself. + +But, at last, the old man appeared to rouse himself by a powerful +effort; he opened his eyes wide and attempted to smooth his withered, +faded face, fringed with a gray stubble, into the old kindly lines, +only succeeding, however, in producing a kind of grin, something +between laughing and weeping. + +"My dear Herr Kohle," he said, "I must seem to you like a madman; but, +if you knew all, you would easily understand why my old brain has been +thrown a little off its balance. And you shall know all about it some +day; but now--don't be offended with me--you are so much younger, it +would be very hard for me to tell you everything. Oblige me by calling +the lieutenant--he has had more experience--or no, you are at your +work, tell me where I can find Herr von Schnetz. I don't wish to +disturb you--" + +At this moment he of whom they had been speaking came into the room, +and was, in his turn, not a little amazed when he saw the state his old +friend was in. Kohle left the two alone. In spite of his fever for +work, he could not find it in his heart to lead the exhausted old man +into another apartment. + +The latter did not appear to notice his absence. He had not yet let go +of the hand Schnetz had offered him, as if, in his agitation, he found +it necessary to cling to some support. Notwithstanding his benevolent +feelings toward those younger than himself, he was, as a general thing, +a man of rather reserved manners, and not particularly lavish of signs +of confidence and familiarity. + +"My good friend," he said, "be lenient toward me, and listen patiently +without interrupting me. For in order to help me you must know my whole +sad history, and I can only tell it when I can almost forget that there +is any one listening. Sit down here by my side. And now, listen while I +tell you something that has not passed my lips for twenty years. + +"I was once a very different man from what I now appear to you; not +simply that I was younger and better contented, and had not known what +true misfortune was; but I bore another name, which may possibly have +reached your ears. For although I cannot say that I exactly raised it +to any particular fame, still, as a born Municher, you have probably +heard it mentioned among those who assisted at the art-works of the +early part of old Louis's reign, though; to be sure, only as a young +apprentice. Even in those days I was not possessed by the demon of +ambition, and on the pictures that I painted, as well as on the +frescoes that I helped to execute, you will not find even my monogram. +From the very first, I had too great a respect for true genius to form +an exalted idea of my own humble qualifications for an artist. By the +side of my master, Cornelius, I felt like the sparrow that soared up to +the sun under the eagle's wing, and was permitted to enjoy himself +royally up there so long as he did not forget that he was, after all, +only an insignificant sparrow. However, I was always bent upon letting +well enough alone, and consoled myself with the thought that, even if I +did possess but a mediocre talent for creative art, I could vie with +the greatest masters in the art of living. + +"I had a pretty, gentle, sensible wife, two children, who were growing +up finely, as much money as I wanted, and more honor than I deserved. +For in those days all of us here in Munich were like members of one +family, or like soldiers in a _corps elite_--whatever fame was won by +the leaders redounded to the benefit of us privates. + +"It was a life which seemed to leave nothing wanting to its happiness, +and I began to take credit to myself for the many blessings Heaven had +poured into my lap. I deluded myself with the idea that although I was +not phenomenal as a man or as an artist, I was, on the other hand, +something no less rare--a perfectly normal citizen of the world, a +truly model specimen of honesty and excellence, especially selected by +fate to be a source of joy and imitation for less favored mortals. My +good wife, too, who did not at first chime in with my lofty tone, was +gradually converted to this state of self-exaltation, until she came to +believe that not a single flaw could be found in her husband, her +children, her friends, her home life, or even in her pets. + +"I will not recount to you the ridiculous details of our pride and +self-complacency. Enough! This audacious structure of conceit and +Phariseeism received a blow one day that sent it tumbling in hopeless +ruin about our heads. One evening, quite late, while I was sitting on +my scaffolding in the palace, painting, my wife tottered up the steps +looking like a picture of despair. She had not even stopped to reflect +whether there were others about us who might overhear our conversation; +her horror at the terrible discovery had so unbalanced her clear mind +that she could not wait until I came home, but ran into a public +building after me to tell me that our daughter--the only child we had, +besides a fine, sturdy boy--a girl on whom I had lavished all my +fatherly pride--that she, our jewel, so loved and treasured-- But I +must retrace my steps a little, so that you may understand all this. + +"About this time my wife having come into possession of a very +considerable fortune, we had begun, contrary to the Munich custom, to +keep open house. As model beings, for such we fancied ourselves to be, +we even regarded it as a sort of duty not to hide our light under +a bushel. And then, besides, it was a pleasant enough thing to +do, and even now I can't condemn our having rebelled against the +narrow-hearted, inhospitable custom of the place, and admitted all +manner of good friends to enjoy our domestic happiness with us. But +even here our pride in our daughter played an important _role_. The +girl was not beautiful, nor even what one would generally call pretty; +she had inherited my flat features, little eyes, and large mouth. But +something sparkled in those eyes that attracted everybody; and when the +large red mouth, with its white teeth, expanded in a laugh that seemed +to come straight from the heart, it was impossible to help feeling +merry too. She had a remarkable talent for communicating her high +spirits to her circle of young people, and this mirthfulness often +reached the wildest extravagance; though, with her, it never went +beyond proper limits, so that I, in my blind adoration, was wont to say +to my wife, when she occasionally shook her head over it: 'Let the +child alone, her nature will protect her better than all our art.' + +"I knew that others thought differently; indeed, I was often obliged to +listen to warnings, more or less distinct, from this or that friend, to +draw the reins tighter; a young untamed thing like her would be sure to +bolt some day or other. For hints like these I had always the same +superior smile, and only told my wife of them that I might laugh at the +Philistinism of my colleagues. + +"The daughter of such a thoroughly well-balanced person, surely one +could confidently leave her to herself, in cases where there would have +been danger for weaker natures. + +"And now came the discovery of our shame! Now came the fearful fall +from that height to which we had soared in our dreams! + +"Any other man would have turned his eyes inward, would, before all +else, have taken himself to task and looked upon the sad and terrible +occurrence as a just chastisement of his foolish blindness. But this +model man was superior to all such weaknesses. Oh, my good friend, it +is not true what philosophy teaches, that the real nature of a man +cannot be changed; that it is only his outward conduct that gradually +gains a certain power of habit over the true character of the +individual. I know this by bitter experience; of that fool who drove +his poor child from his home in her shame and misery and forbade her +ever to come in his sight again; of that childish and cruel father +there is not a vestige left in me--so little that I can search my +nature for it as much as I will. With all my other faults and human +weaknesses, it is absolutely incomprehensible to me how I could ever +have torn my poor flesh and blood from me, and cast it forth into the +outside world. + +"The child bore herself far better and more nobly than her parents. She +declared decidedly that having, as she found to her sorrow, forfeited +forever the love of father and mother by her weakness, she would no +longer accept anything from their bounty. We thought this was merely a +fine phrase. But we soon learned how seriously she had meant what she +said. The poor girl suddenly disappeared from our house and the +city--and probably from the country--for all our efforts to find her +were without result. + +"She had persistently refused to give the name of her betrayer, and we +were either compelled or tempted to suspect every friend who had been +intimate at our house; so that, although appearances were kept up for a +while longer, and a plausible pretext was found for the disappearance +of our daughter, our domestic bliss was ended at a blow, and soon +vanished utterly. She who had given, life and charm to the most +trifling domestic pleasures was wanting. + +"But we had not yet reached the end of our sorrows; our son, too, was +to be taken from us. He studied medicine---a quiet, steady, and, to all +appearances, a somewhat phlegmatic man; but he had an exceptionally +keen sense of honor. When his sister did not return, this and that +began to be gossiped about her. The slightest allusion, often a +perfectly innocent speech, would throw him into a state of furious +anger. It was some remark of this sort that had as its sequel a duel +between him and his best friend. They bore the last joy of our life, +bathed in bloody back into our wretched home. + +"And now the floodgates were opened. It was all over with our model +household. It came out why our daughter had been driven to misery and +our son to death. Our friends could not help assuming a certain air of +pity toward us, that broke my wife's heart and drove me from the city. +I went to North Germany, and there I buried my wife a year later. Soon +after I gave up painting. I looked upon engraving, with all its +drudgery, as an instrument of chastisement--as a mode of daily forcing +down my pride. My dishonored name had become hateful to me, and I had +laid it aside when I left Bavaria, But I did not neglect to have an +appeal to my outcast child inserted in all the newspapers, begging her +to return to her solitary father, to forgive him, and to help him bear +his remaining years of life. + +"No answer ever came, although I continued to have the notice inserted +for many years. + +"At last I became thoroughly convinced that she was no longer in this +world; and no sooner did this belief, which it had taken ten years to +beat into my head, become a settled conviction, than a singular +transformation took place in me. I grew calm again, after all my +wretched experiences, and at peace with myself; there were times when I +had difficulty in recognizing in my present self the man whose guilt +and foolishness had worked so much misery. I succeeded so well in +outliving my old nature, in working a complete regeneration of my inner +man, that I actually felt something like curiosity to see the city in +which my predecessor had suffered so much sorrow and shame. + +"And so, one day, I came back to Munich, though I scarcely knew it +again, for everything at whose birth I had assisted was now completed, +and besides a new world had sprung up. Nor did the old city recognize +me either. I had grown a white-headed, quiet, solitary man, bore +another name, and lived like a hermit--never going out during the day, +unless, perhaps, to visit the studio of one of the younger artists who +had settled here since my day. It has sometimes happened that I have +found myself in a beer-garden seated next to some boon companion of the +days of my prosperity, who had no idea who the silent old man was who +was eating and drinking at the same table with him. + +"And this is the way I have gone on for six or seven years, counting +myself always among the departed spirits, and sometimes startled at the +sight of my own face if I chanced to catch a glimpse of it in the +mirror. It is incredible, my dear friend, how tough the thread of life +is sometimes. For really had it not been for my interest in art, and in +some good young friends who have shown me confidence and respect, the +whole world would have been a blank to me. Besides, when photography +came into such general use, it seemed to me that my graver was a very +superfluous sort of thing, of little further use except to multiply +copies of business cards, labels on wine-bottles, and other things of +that sort. + +"So I continued to grow more idle, more contemplative, and, if you +like, wiser; except that I myself felt little respect, and sometimes +even disgust and loathing, for any wisdom that could haunt such a +useless wreck of a man." + +The old man spoke these last words in such a mournful voice, and hung +his head so low upon his breast, that Schnetz could not help feeling +the warmest pity for him. At the same time he asked himself with +amazement how it could have been possible for them all to have +associated with this terribly-tried man for so many long years without +having taken the trouble to find out anything about his history. + +He now bluntly said as much, inveighing in his bitter way against the +wretched state of society in which they lived. + +"A fine Paradise!" he growled out, half to himself. "We have a great +idea of how necessary we are to one another, and yet the few fellow-men +who are worth troubling ourselves about stand in no nearer relation to +us than the wild animals did to our first parents. Though, to be sure, +in your case we ought not to bear the chief blame. Why did you yourself +never feel a desire to break the ice between us? It would have been a +healthier thing for you, if you had long ago formed an intimacy with +one of us." + +The old man raised his head again, but still kept his eyes shut tight, +and groped blindly for Schnetz's hand, which he pressed warmly. + +"Perhaps it is not yet too late," he stammered, in a trembling voice. +"I hope it may still be in your power to assist me in finding a place +in life again. + +"One morning about a fortnight ago a little sealed packet was brought +to me by a street messenger. It bore no address, but when I saw the +seal I felt a terrible shock. I recognized it as one I had once given +to my daughter--a cornelian, in which was cut an Egyptian scarabaeus. I +asked the man who had given it to him. A girl, he said, who had given +him an exact description of my lodging and appearance; and she had also +known my name--my present one--which I have no reason to suppose my +lost daughter had ever even heard of. I was so beside myself with +alarm, joy, and a thousand indescribable sensations that I did not +break the seal at first; only one thing seemed clear to me in my +confusion--before all else I must find the person who had sent the +messenger. Did he know where she was to be found? I asked. But she had +engaged him in the street, had paid in advance, and had then +immediately disappeared round the next corner. And then he described +her! It was my lost one, feature for feature, and yet it could not be +she herself, for this one must have been about as old as my daughter +was when I cast her off. So it must be the _child_ of my lost darling! +And to think that she, too, should flee from me like her poor mother! + +"At last I tore the string off the packet, and there fell out a letter +and two small pictures--daguerreotypes, such as they used in those days +to take on silvered plates--one of them a picture of her mother, the +only thing she had taken away with her from her home, the other a young +man whose face I had great difficulty in recalling. + +"The letter had been written several years before. Only in case of her +death was it to come into my hands, she wrote in the very first lines. +She had always been a proud child, and guilt and want and her sad life +had not changed her. Yet there was a loving, tender tone in her words, +a spirit of parting that softens even the hardest and most bitter +natures; and as I read her simple confession, in which she accused +herself of having robbed me of my happiness and ruined my life--of +having offended me beyond forgiveness--it seemed as if my heart would +burst. She could never prevail upon herself to return to me; at first +from fear that I would renounce her a second time, and later, because +she did not want to become a fresh burden to me. She knew that I had +taken another name, and was living in the strictest seclusion. If she +should suddenly appear with her child, it might not be convenient for +me. But, when she should be no more--and this must be soon, for her +lungs grew weaker every day--she begged me not to let the child suffer +for the wrong her mother had done me. It was a good child, unspoiled as +yet, but with little sense and very giddy. She needed a father's hand +to guide her through her years of danger. She had appealed in vain to +the child's father in the first years after his desertion of her. But, +when no answer came, she had taken an oath that he should be dead to +her forever. She had found no difficulty in keeping it, for she hated +him now as much as she had once loved him. + +"For the child's sake she would now speak his name for the first time +in eighteen years, so that if he should still be alive her father might +call him to account and force him to make provision for his orphaned +daughter. + +"And then followed a short word of farewell and the name of my child, +and beside it in brackets that of her betrayer, which was also on the +back of the daguerreotype, where, with his own hand, he had written +some words of presentation to my daughter. + +"Give me a glass of water, my dear friend. My tongue cleaves to the +roof of my mouth, as if I had swallowed the dust of a whole graveyard! +So--thank you--and now I shall soon have done. + +"For I shall take good care not to tell you how I have spent my time +since the receipt of this legacy. I sometimes realized myself how much +like a madman I must have looked as I rushed about the streets, at all +hours of the day and night, peering under the hats of all the young +girls, and forcing my way into the houses wherever I caught the +faintest glimpse of red hair at the window." + +"Holy Moses!" interrupted Schnetz, springing up and pacing the hall +with long strides, all the while furiously twisting at his imperial. +"Why didn't you tell us this before? Why, it must be our Zenz!" + +The old man bowed his head with a sigh. + +"I first learned it, or rather guessed it, yesterday, when I happened +to meet Herr Rosenbusch, and he told me of all that had happened here. +It came upon me like a flash; this red-haired servant and my +granddaughter, who felt so little desire to know the grandfather who +had cast off her mother, are one and the same person. I could hardly +wait for the morning before coming here and clasping to my heart the +one thing that still belongs to me in this world. But as I entered the +park a short time ago, my knees scarcely able to carry me from +excitement, and saw from a distance, through the branches, the red hair +and the round face with the red lips and the short nose--she stood in +the very centre of the lawn raking together the new-mown hay--I stepped +up to her and cried, 'Don't you know me, Zenz?' + +"And then, instead of throwing herself into my outstretched arms, she +gave a cry, as if a wild beast were upon her, and started off down the +garden as fast as she could run, and I after her, pursuing her around +the lawn and shouting out the most heart-rending words and entreaties, +until she saw her chance, pushed open the gate and escaped from me into +the road. + +"In spite of my sixty years I am no crippled invalid, my dear friend, +and in the midst of all my wretchedness and grief my anger at this +futile and ridiculous chase, after a foolish thing who refused to +understand how well I meant by her, got the better of me, and I put +forth all my strength to overtake her. But the foolish thing sped away +from me, as blind and deaf as if death itself were at her heels. I +believe she would have thrown herself under the wheels of the +locomotive that was approaching rather than have me catch her. + +"Then, all of a sudden, I felt shocked at this unconquerable fear and +loathing in so young a heart, and stood still and called to her to have +no fear--that I gave it up. And then, when I saw her flee into the +thick wood to the right, I faced about and dragged myself back to the +villa. For the first time I realized how my limbs shook, and what a +miserable figure I should cut in your eyes. But you are old enough, +Herr von Schnetz, to no longer feel amazed at any fate, however sad and +strange, that may befall a man. I felt I could tell you all this; and +now I have come to the end of my foolishness and of my wisdom. For, +after what I have just experienced, I can scarcely hope ever again to +approach the legacy left me by my poor daughter. I have become a +scarecrow; the warm nest I would offer to the child seems more terrible +to her than the haystack or fence under which she can crouch for a few +nights, before starting off upon her wanderings again." + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + +Schnetz, who all this time had never ceased to stride up and down the +room, now stepped up to the old man. + +"Sit still where you are, Herr Schoepf," he said. "Stay here where it +is cool until you are thoroughly rested. Meantime I will go and find +the girl, and talk to her. She has a liking for me, possibly because I +have never tried to win her favor." + +With these words he left the old gentleman. He first searched through +the house and garden after the frightened bird, but finally had to make +up his mind to go into the wood after her. + +After much unsuccessful searching and calling, he finally saw her white +face and red hair shimmering from out the green shadows, in a little +cleared spot on the gentle slope of the grove, from which she could +command a view of the entrance of the park. + +"What a trouble you are making, Zenz!" he shouted to her. "What are you +running about in the lonely wood for all the forenoon, when there is +enough to be done in the house? Old Katie has worked as hard to find +you as if you had been a needle in a haystack." + +The girl had hastily sprung from the mossy seat on which she had been +crouching, and seemed to be holding herself in readiness to dart away. +Her round cheeks had suddenly flushed crimson. + +"Is he still there?" she asked. + +"Who? Don't be so childish, Zenz. The idea of running away from a good +old man, as if he were Satan himself!" + +"I won't go home till he has gone," she said, with a defiant shake of +her head. "I know what he wants. He wants to lock me up in his hateful, +lonely house, where no sun or air gets in. But I have never done him +any wrong, and I won't go--I won't bear it--I'd rather have him kill me +right here." + +"You're out of your senses, girl! Do you know him? What do you know +about him?" + +She did not answer immediately. He saw how wildly her young breast +heaved, how her eyes were fixed on the ground, and how her teeth bit +the little twig she held in her hand. + +"He is the father of my mother!" she finally burst out, her face taking +on a look of intense hatred. "He drove my poor dear mother out of his +house because of me--that is, before I ever came into the world. Oh, he +is so stern! My mother never dared to go back to him as long as she +lived. Then, when she was going to die, she wrote a letter to her +father asking him to take care of me, and she made me promise by all +that was holy to carry this letter to my grandfather as soon as she was +dead; and I promised I would, though I never could get up much love for +him, and no one can blame me for it either. But, when I came to Munich, +I felt terribly forlorn and forsaken at first, for I didn't know a +soul, and I thought to myself I'll just take a look at him and see what +he's like. So I waited in front of his house, with my packet in my +pocket, until he went out in the evening. I tell you truly, Herr +Lieutenant, I was so miserable and unhappy that even if he had only +looked just the least bit kind I would have been very glad to go up and +say to him: 'I am Zenz; people say I am the very image of my poor dear +mother, and my dear mother was your daughter, and now she is dead and +sends you this letter!' But when he came out of his house so stern and +still, and looked neither to the right or left, but only stared at the +ground, just as if he didn't care anything at all for the dear world +all about him--hu! it made my flesh creep! Nothing in the world shall +ever force me to have anything to do with him, thought I to myself; and +I let him go by as if he had been a perfect stranger. Still, I thought +I would leave the letter for him, so I made some inquiries about him of +his landlady; And I heard from her that he hides in his lodgings like +an owl in a hollow tree; no one comes to see him, and he goes to see +nobody; he gets no letters and he writes none. There was a little +looking-glass hanging in the landlady's room, and I happened to see my +face in it, and it looked to me as if I had an ashy-gray skin and faded +hair. I think most likely the glass was colored blue, but for all that +I felt as if it was warning me--'This is the way you'll look before +long, if you shut yourself up with your grandfather in his dark den +where no sunbeam will ever reach you.' So I went away and took good +care not to deliver my packet, for it might have betrayed me. And that +very same evening I got acquainted with Black Pepi, and went to live +with her, and never sent him my poor, dear mother's packet until I went +into the country. But how he found out where I was, or what he wants of +me--for he must have the sense to see that I don't want to have +anything to do with him--I--" + +"Zenz," interrupted the lieutenant, "be a sensible girl, and at least +get acquainted with your only relation before you rebel against your +mother's last wish. I can assure you you wouldn't have any fault to +find with him; and if he should treat you like a prisoner or try to +coerce you in any way--are not your old friends at hand? Do you suppose +that Herr Rossel, or the baron, or I myself, would suffer any one to +ill-treat our little Zenz? If you could only hear the old gentleman +talk, and see how sorry he is for all he did and did not do for his +daughter, and how anxious he is to atone for it to his grandchild! No, +Zenz, you are too sensible a girl to be so childishly frightened by the +spectres your own imagination has called up. And, besides, what do you +think is going to become of you when the summer is over and we all go +back into the city again?" + +He waited a moment for her answer. But as none came, and she seemed to +be lost in thought, he drew a step nearer, and, taking one of her +hands, said, in his truehearted way: + +"I know what you are thinking, my child. You are in love with the +baron, and you are thinking you will remain near him as long as it is +possible, and then perhaps he will love you in return; and you have no +thought for anything else. But you ought also to tell yourself how +miserably it must all end at last. He won't marry you--you must make up +your mind to that--and what will be the upshot of such an unhappy love +you have seen, unfortunately, in the case of your poor mother." + +She withdrew her hand from his; but looked at him quietly, and almost +with something of her old light-heartedness. + +"You mean well by me, sir," she said. "But I am not so foolish as I may +look. I never imagined for a moment that he would marry me; he wouldn't +even love me, no, not if I had saved his life and should be near him +ever so long. He loves some one else--I know that for certain--and I +don't blame him for it a bit, and if I choose to go on liking him, in +spite of all that, it is my affair, and nothing that anybody says will +make any difference. Until he is well again, and can get up and go +about, I am going to stay out here; and no one knows better than you +that I don't eat my bread in idleness, and that you are not able to get +along without me. Just tell this to my--to the old gentleman; and as to +what may happen afterward, why, that is something none of us can tell +yet. But I won't let myself be caught, and if he should use force--I +would jump into the lake sooner than let myself be made a slave of!" + +She turned sharply on her heel and began very calmly to walk up the +hill, no longer as if to flee, but merely because she had spoken her +last word. Schnetz had always had a secret liking for her, though he +had no very high opinion of her understanding or her virtue. But he +could not help feeling a certain respect for her as she had just shown +herself to him. + +"She knows what she wants, at all events," he growled, "and won't allow +herself to be deceived, not even by her own poor heart. There is good +blood in the little red fox." + +Upon returning to Schoepf he exerted himself to the utmost to convince +the old gentleman that, for the present, it was useless to try and do +anything. But he promised to do his best to reconcile the girl to the +thought that she could no longer be her own mistress, but must consent +to be taken under the protection of a loving grandfather. It touched +him to see how much the old man was encouraged and cheered by the +thought that she would come to him in the end. He even began to make +plans for the external arrangements of their future life together. As +if this were a matter that would not brook the slightest delay, he +could not be prevailed upon to stay even until the heat of the day was +over. He must go back at once and look for larger and more cheerful +lodgings, and must buy some furniture, so that he would be prepared to +receive his grandchild just as soon as she felt like coming to live +with him. Besides, he did not want to be the cause of the poor child's +wandering about in the woods any longer, for it was clear she would not +enter the house again until he had gone. + +Schnetz accompanied him through the park. When they were almost at the +gate he asked: + +"Don't you propose to take any steps to find out the whereabouts of the +child's father? Or do you know that he has died since all this +happened?" + +The old man stood still, and his eyes took on that stern expression +which had scared off Zenz that night in the street. + +"The scoundrel!" he cried in a loud voice, passionately striking the +gravel path with the umbrella that he always carried in summer. "The +miserable, perjured villain! Can you seriously suppose that I would let +myself be outdone in pride by my dead daughter, who would have nothing +to do with the author of all her misery, since he appeared to have +forgotten her? Do you think me capable of such a thing as sharing this +living legacy of my daughter, that I have just found again as if by a +miracle, with that robber of women's honor--admitting even that he +would not now choose to deny all share in it? I would rather--" + +"My good Herr Schoepf," coolly interrupted Schnetz, "in spite of your +white hairs, you are rather more passionate than is consistent with the +interest of your grandchild. Now what if anything should happen to you, +and the good girl should a second time be left an orphan in the world? +In case the worst should happen, she ought at least to know just where +she stands; to say nothing of the fact that it can never do any harm to +a child to know to whom it is indebted for the doubtful privilege of +belonging to this world." + +The old man reflected for a moment. His manner grew more gentle. + +"You are right," said he at last. "Scold away at me; it is the old +artist blood in me that will never listen to reason--not even when +all art is passed, and only a little drudgery is left. But that +scoundrel--if you knew how cordially we received him into our home! +Though there again our pride came into play, for he was a baron, and up +to that time we had had no intimates of higher rank than artists, +except a few officers; and besides this he was a stranger, a North +German, and he pleased us immensely; for he was such a lively, +wide-awake, chivalrous young gentleman, a great hunter, and he used to +be always saying he would never rest until he had hunted lions in +Africa--" + +"Good God! Hunted lions? And his name--don't tell me, my good friend, +that his name was--" + +"Baron F----. I had actually forgotten the name, until I found it in my +poor Lena's testament. Heaven knows what ever became of him, and +whether he was punished for his mad whim, and for all the wrong he +inflicted upon my poor child, by dying a miserable death under the +African sun, torn to pieces by wild beasts. The name seems to strike +you. Can it be that you have ever met the wretch?--or perhaps you even +know where he is?" + +Schnetz had recovered himself in a moment. He reflected that at best it +would be quite superfluous, while it might perhaps be extremely +disastrous, if he told the old gentleman in what intimate relations he +stood to the individual in question. Neither did he see that it would +be of any advantage to the girl, if, before she had begun to feel any +love for her grandfather, she should find a father who would be even +more of a stranger to her, and who would be able to count still less +upon her filial affection. And besides, in the interest of his +unsuspecting old tent-comrade, he shrank from making any premature +disclosures. + +He answered, accordingly, that it was true the name was not altogether +unknown to him; indeed, so far as he knew, the father of the girl was +still living; it was possible, however, that they would be doing her a +poor service if they should be over hasty in enlightening her on the +subject. The first thing to be done was to induce her to become +reconciled to her grandfather. + +As the old man was, at heart, entirely of this opinion, he took his +leave, evidently feeling much comforted and full of glad hopes; though +he still lingered a little, secretly hoping he might catch at least +another distant glimpse of the shy little creature. But the girl took +good care to keep out of sight. So that at last, with a quiet sigh, her +grandfather had to set out upon his homeward way. Schnetz stood at the +gate, looking after him. + +"A mad farce, this life of ours!" he growled under his mustache. "The +only thing still wanting is that my old lion-hunter should come riding +past his father-in-law, smoking a cigar and gazing complacently at the +white-haired old boy, who would be powdered still whiter by the dust +kicked up by his nag's hoofs; and that then he should stop here in the +park gate, and make inquiries of Zenz in regard to the health of our +patient, playfully pinching the child's cheek just as he would any +other pretty servant girl's, or giving her a _pourboire_ if she held +his horse for him for ten minutes. And then his niece, our proud little +highness! What big eyes she would make if I should tell her that the +little red-haired waiter-girl was her own, though not exactly her +legitimate, cousin!" + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + +Week after week had passed away. The autumn was approaching; the +rose-bushes on the little lawn shed their last buds, and at evening a +stealthy white mist crept over the lake, and for a whole week the +opposite shore and the distant mountains beyond disappeared completely +behind a dull, gray rain that spread a curtain over lake and land. When +at last it was drawn away the same landscape was indeed there, but in +different colors; much yellow was scattered among the tall beech woods; +the waves of the lake, usually of a transparent green, were changed to +a dull gray, and on the summits of the Zugspitz and the +Karwendelgebirge could be seen the melancholy white of the first snow. + +Even Rossel, who usually regarded the surrounding landscape with great +indifference, and who declared the symbolical relations of Nature to +our moods to be a sentimental prejudice, expressed himself to Kohle +with great displeasure concerning the raw air and the disgusting, +clinging fog, which, as he asserted, had come so early this year out of +pure malevolence, knowing that they were obliged to stay out here on +account of their sick friend. Then, too, the stoves, which had not been +used for many years, refused to draw; and they were soon forced to give +up heating the dining-room. + +Nevertheless Kohle, whose inner fire was still unquenched, would not +allow himself to be deterred from working away at his Venus allegory; +though Rossel had now lost all interest in it, and even accompanied the +progress of the work with open sneers at the idea of their attempting +to naturalize the naked beauty under such a foggy sky. + +But then when the autumn sun bethought itself of its might once more, +and, at high noon at least, awakened for hours all the charms of a most +glorious Indian summer, Rossel still continued in a bad humor, which he +was only careful to conceal in Felix's presence. Schnetz soon got at +the true cause of his low spirits--the almost contemptuous coldness +with which Zenz treated him. His singular passion, which had sprung +originally from an artistic whim, was only inflamed the more by this. +And now that he had learned the secret of her birth, he grew very +melancholy, actually lost his appetite, and, with the exception of the +hours he spent with Felix, shut himself up from every one, not even +making his appearance at meals. Schnetz came to the conclusion that he +had made a formal offer of marriage to the little red-haired witch, and +had been dismissed without ceremony. + +This strange child bore herself with great coolness in the midst of all +these temptations and perplexities. It is true she no longer laughed as +much as she had in the summer. Yet she never made her appearance with +red eyes, or with any other signs of secret grief, and even when she +had to wait on Felix her face was cheerful and unembarrassed. But on +the very first day that the convalescent was allowed to go down into +the garden, leaning on Schnetz's arm, she unexpectedly appeared before +them, her little hat on her head and in her hand a little traveling-bag +containing her few possessions, which she had sent over from the inn +across the lake. She very quietly announced that she was about to +return to the city, as she could be of no further use here. The Herr +Baron was as good as well, and within the last few weeks old Katie had +so far succeeded in breaking herself of her taste for schnapps as to be +perfectly able to look after the household without other assistance. +When Schnetz asked her whether she meant to go to her grandfather she +answered, with a fleeting blush, that "she did not know yet herself; +she had managed to get along without him hitherto, just as he had +without her. She wouldn't swear that she wouldn't go to him; she must +get to know him better first. But she would never let herself be robbed +of her liberty!" + +Felix had listened in amazement, for he had not yet been initiated into +old Schoepf's history. He spoke very kindly to the good child, and held +her hand for a moment tenderly in his. She suffered him to retain it +without returning his gentle pressure, and looked quietly past him as +though she would say: "That is all very fine, but it can do me no +good." Then she allowed Schnetz to exact a promise from her that she +would write him her address as soon as she found a lodging-place, and, +with a last "Adieu, and a quick recovery!" she marched out of the gate +with such a quick and resolute step that it would never have entered +any one's head to suppose that this was a parting at which her heart +had bled. + +Rossel, of whom she took no leave, sank into still deeper melancholy +when he learned of her departure, and the innocent Kohle, who was +always the last to notice anything that was going on about him, +contrived to pour oil on the fire by exhausting himself in eulogies of +this remarkable girl, who was missed now in every nook and corner. He +was forced to content himself with immortalizing, from memory, her +little nose and golden mane, as he called it, in the scene at the +cloister; in which effort he succeeded but poorly, according to the +judgment of Fat Rossel. + +And so, in spite of the cheerful autumn days, the atmosphere in the +villa was none of the brightest. Even in the case of the convalescent +Felix, the more he felt his strength increase, the less did he seem to +rejoice in the new lease of life that had been granted him. Those words +of greeting from his old love, that had made him so happy in his +feverish dreams, had vanished from his memory upon his return to +perfect consciousness. He only knew that her uncle had received daily +bulletins of his condition, and that they would not leave Starnberg +until all danger was over. But they might easily have shown as much +sympathy as that to a stranger, with whom they had chanced to stand in +merely formal relations. For the rest, in what respect had the +situation been changed by his adventure? Altogether to his advantage? A +life and death struggle with a boatman about a waiter-girl! Surely a +dubious test, that, of the correctness of his principles regarding +looseness and freedom of morals; a new proof of how correctly she had +acted when, with a single sharp cut, she severed her life from his. And +now, under what pretext could he give her an explanation of the real +origin of the whole affair? And what further interest could she take in +the doings of one whom she had wholly given up? What did it concern her +whether, in pursuing his own wild courses, he showed himself more or +less unworthy of her? + +But the pride which rebelled against making any overtures secretly +gnawed at his heart. More than once, after the wound in his hand +permitted him to scribble a few letters, he had sat down to write to +her uncle. In doing so, he could certainly put in a word in explanation +of the very innocent occasion of his bloody adventure. But in the midst +of his writing it would seem to him as if, according to the old saying, +he were making the evil worse with every excuse. And then, could he +ever hope to explain away that sin--which was in her eyes the +heaviest--his dancing with the girl? + +So he tore up the letters he had begun, and, gnashing his teeth, +resigned himself to the fate of suffering unjustly, and being better +than he seemed. + +But one day when, by some chance or other, he found himself sitting +alone on a bench in the garden with none of his watchers near--for they +took care to keep him out of the reach of all conversation--he saw, +with a glad throb at heart, her uncle gallop up and gleefully wave his +hand to him over the park-gate. He stood up, and, with a faint blush, +half of weakness, half of confusion, advanced several steps to meet the +well-known face. + +The lively old gentleman rushed upon him, and embraced him so cordially +that Felix had to smilingly beg for forbearance, on account of his +scarcely-healed wounds. Whereupon the uncle excused himself in great +alarm, and, carefully supporting the patient, led him back to the +bench, where he asked him, with the most candid curiosity, for all the +particulars of the unfortunate occurrence. + +"A blessed land, this Bavaria!" he cried, rubbing his hands. "Upon my +word, there is no need for a man to go beyond the 'Pillars of +Hercules,' or among the red-skins: he can have plenty of slaughter +nearer home, in his own German fatherland! But now, out with the truth +about this girl who was the cause of the whole scrape. The moment I +heard you were wounded I asked: _Ou est la femme?_ When I learned she +had crossed over with you in the boat, and had been nursing you--No, +don't deny it, you young sinner! The little witch--she is said to have +red hair, too, and red hair always was dangerous to you--ha, ha! Do +you still remember that crazy, mysterious adventure--the one with the +red-haired Englishwoman at the sea-shore?--ha, ha! And now, again--But +what's the matter with you, my dear boy? You turn red and white in a +breath--maybe you've been staying out a little too--" + +Felix rose to his feet with evident exertion. His brow was clouded; his +eyes glared strangely at his jovial old friend. + +"Uncle," he said, "you have been wrongly informed. However, that makes +no difference. The girl, who is no more to me than that mad fool of a +boatman, has left the house again, and with that it is to be hoped this +whole wretched affair will be at an end. But that you should touch upon +that other matter again, when you know how painful the remembrance of +it is to me--" + +"I beg a thousand pardons, my dear boy! It slipped from me, as it were. +You know that, in spite of my fifty-one years, I am the same +incorrigible old _etourdi_; but now I swear by all the gods and +goddesses, never again will I make even the slightest allusion--Why, he +has grown quite pale!--this firebrand of a fellow! Look here, my dear +boy, you ought to take much greater care of yourself, and guard +yourself much more carefully against excitement. I had been meaning to +propose to you to come over and stay with us, for, after all, we have +the best right to nurse you; but since you really are weaker than I +thought, and as certain emotions might perhaps--" + +Felix stared at him in blank amazement. Then he burst out in a forced +laugh. + +"You are joking, uncle. Or perhaps, after all, you are speaking with +more design than you would have me believe. I go and live--with you! +You are very kind; but really, well as I know that all is over, still I +should hardly like to guarantee that certain emotions might not--" + +He broke off, and passed his hand over his forehead. + +"You are right, my boy," replied the uncle, seriously. "It is still a +little too soon. Still, sooner or later this whole absurd, lagging +affair must be set right, and the sooner, the better, in my opinion. +Just think it over. The country is just the place for arranging such a +matter easily and comfortably. If you would prefer to speak with her +alone first, you have only to give me a wink." + +"Is this merely your private opinion, or are you perhaps acting--" + +"Under higher orders? Not yet, unfortunately. But you know my +diplomatic talents. If you will only give me full powers--" + +"I am sorry, uncle, but I really am too weak to talk any longer in this +jesting way of matters which, after all, have their serious side too. +Excuse me for to-day; I must go back to the house; and, in conclusion, +I must beg of you not to exert yourself at all in my interest. You see +I am quite well, under the circumstances--as well as I could wish all +men were--and after I have passed a few weeks more in the country--" + +He tried to speak lightly; but he sank back upon the bench, and could +only motion with his hand for the old baron to leave him, for a sudden +throbbing pain in his wounded breast deprived him of speech. The uncle +stammered out a few frightened words, and then hastened back to his +horse, which he had tied outside the park-gate. He mounted +thoughtfully, and rode off shaking his head. There were some things +about the young people of nowadays that went beyond his comprehension. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + +A few weeks after this meeting, Felix wrote Jansen the following +letter: + + + "Villa Rossel, _last of October_. + +"The spirit moves me to talk with you, old Daedalus; and as my physician +has seriously impressed me with the duty of sparing my lungs, I may +neither look you up myself nor tempt you to come out here to me. So I +must force you to puzzle out these awkward copy-book letters of mine, +in which you will recognize the handwriting of your pupil as little as +you will his customary style. + +"For, between ourselves be it said, things still look rather blue and +gloomy to me. Our friends won't have told you this; before them I have +played the lively, joyous Hotspur, merely in order to make them think +there would be no danger in leaving me out here alone. I can no longer +reconcile it to my conscience to exile my good host from the city, even +though he does put such a good face on the matter; and then there is +Kohle too--hard as it is for him to tear himself away from his bare +walls, he can't go on with his work until he has first made the +necessary designs. What do I lack here except that one thing which is +lost to me forever? You need not fear that I shall become a prey to +misanthropy or schnapps, like old Katie. I should be ashamed to show +myself to Homo, who is looking at me now while I write, with his wise, +sensible, true-hearted eyes. Perhaps he is asking me to send you his +love. + +"But to stay out here awhile in solitude will be of equal service to my +slowly-healing breast and to my poor, somewhat discouraged soul. Don't +let yourself be deceived, old Hans, by what our friends try to stuff +into your head: that my anxiety about whether I shall soon be able to +use my hand again in the service of the arts is gnawing at my heart. +More has been injured in this case than a finger-muscle or a joint; my +hopeful confidence has been shattered--that courage and audacity with +which I came to you in the summer. If I had ten sound hands I would +bethink myself ten times before I again sent them to school to you, for +I am as good as convinced that at the very best they would only have +acquired mechanical proficiency; while a true work of art requires much +more, for which they would hardly have the right sort of tools. + +"You prophesied this to me in the first hour of our reunion. Then I set +myself up to be wiser than my master. And now can you guess how I found +out that you were right? I know it is mortifying, but I must confess +it. During all the pleasant weeks I passed in your workshop I never +once felt so much myself, never felt myself so 'at the height of my +existence'--as Rossel would call it--as in those moments when I was +bringing an oarless boat safely to shore, and afterward when I was +struggling, hand-to-hand, to defend my life against a furious, +murderous scoundrel. + +"That a man maybe a very tolerable bully and desperado, and at the same +time be a great sculptor, your celebrated Florentine predecessor, +Benvenuto, has shown. Though then, to be sure, the days of a nobility +of force were not yet over, and many things were demanded of a complete +man which are now divided among many by our present system of division +of labor. Artistic creation and practical execution are now distinct, +and you were quite right in saying that the clay in which I was called +upon to work was to be found in public life. + +"But where shall I find a material that will not melt away under my +hands? + +"You would be no worse off in a desert of sand than I am in this +bureaucratic, well-regulated, red-tape civilization of ours, that never +permits a man to dig into the lump and stamp his own individuality upon +this commonplace routine; and, after all, it is that alone which could +give any personal satisfaction to a man constituted as I am--this +feeling, akin to the one you have in art, of having created something +which every other man could not have produced just as well by merely +following a certain formula. + +"It may be that my experience in my own narrow little fatherland has +given me a false idea of what a man inclined to action has to hope and +to fear in this Old World of ours. Perhaps if I could find a position +in the North German Confederation!--but even that wouldn't help me; at +least I have known Prussian Landraths with whom I would not have +changed places--men, the highest aim of whose ambition was to succeed +to a chief magistrate's position, with a white head and a soul grown +gray in the dust of official documents. + +"No, my dear fellow, Schnetz unquestionably used the right expression. +I have stumbled into the wrong century. I should have done very well in +the middle ages, when the old savage and unruly spirit was everywhere +to be found side by side with a struggling civilization, and when one +could be a good citizen and yet go armed to the teeth. But since this +wretched anachronism cannot now be helped, I will at least do my best +to seek out a place where a bird of my plumage won't be stared at like +a strange fowl in a hen-yard, and crowed over by every well-conditioned +cock. + +"I have seen quite enough of the New World to know that I shall be more +in my proper place there than here. Don't imagine for a moment that I +over-estimate that promised land; the positive, human, heart-quickening +possessions and enjoyments that it has to offer are few. But of this +very same unattractive nothing, from which something can be made, there +is blessed superabundance there. + +"Consequently, I have made up my mind, as the Yankees say, to cross the +wide water again, and to settle down there permanently. Salutary and +necessary as this step is for me, I know well that parting is not such +an easy matter. And for that very reason I want to make my preparatory +studies for it out here in the deepest solitude. I want to accustom +myself to doing without all sorts of things, and at the same time to +let my body get as hardy again as it is necessary to have it over +there. + +"I hope to attain this result in a few months. And then, before I shake +the dust of the Old World off my shoes, I will come to you again, my +oldest, best, and truest friend. All was not as it should have been +between us; but for that no one was to blame but time itself, which did +not leave us just as we were when we parted ten years ago, but has +brought to each of us many strange experiences, such as even the best +of friends can only understand when they have borne them together. And +how much has happened even in the last few months, which each is forced +to keep locked up in his own breast! To you has been accorded a great +happiness; to me have come all sorts of renunciations and bitter +experiences. Such things do not go well together. But, now that you +have almost seen the last of me, allow me, at least a little more than +heretofore, to share in your happiness, and to bask, though but for so +short a time, in our old friendship. Hereafter I shall have plenty of +time to sit in the shade. + +"Remember me to Fraeulein Julie. I have only exchanged a few words with +her. But when I say that I think her worthy your love, you will know +how highly I esteem her. + +"This is the third day that I have been scribbling at this letter. +After every half-page, my wound begins to give warning again. However, +to hold a sword or to cock a musket is not such exhausting work as to +guide a pen. Old Berlichingen managed to get along, though in a far +worse plight. + +"Remember me to our friends; I look forward with the greatest pleasure +to seeing them again, and to celebrating my last German Christmas with +you all. And now good-by, old fellow! _Hic et ubique_, + + "Your Felix." + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + +When Jansen received this letter he was at work in his studio making a +bust of his child. Julie sat at his side looking on; little Frances +crouched in a high chair and asked a great many droll, sage questions; +and in spite of the gray autumn sky it was cozier in the large room +than in the old days, when the summer air came wafted in through the +wide-opened windows. Even now a sparrow flew in, now and then, through +the only open pane, and a great nosegay of autumn flowers stood on the +window-sill. A small fire flickered in the stove, and Julie's beautiful +face and the child's wise eyes gave out a warmth which had once been +sadly wanting here. Yet, notwithstanding this, Jansen's brow still +remained clouded; and he left it to his friend to answer the questions +of the child, while he worked on in silence. + +For weeks she had been aware of this shade upon his spirits without +having been able to discover its cause, and to cheer him up she had +begged him for a bust of the child. Heretofore she had never come to +his studio unless accompanied by Angelica. Now she came every day with +the child, who was passionately fond of her, staid the whole forenoon, +and then took little Frances home with her to dinner, which was always +a fresh treat to the little one. Yet delighted as her friend was at +this arrangement and at this confidential intercourse with his beloved, +the shadow that rested on his spirits did not depart. At last she asked +him directly what it was that oppressed him. She earnestly besought him +to tell her, claiming it as her just right; for unless he did so she +would be compelled to think that she herself was the cause of his +sadness. The fresh outburst of passion with which he greeted this +speech, and which she herself was continually obliged to keep within +bounds, ought to have satisfied her on this point. But his strange +depression was still left unexplained. She must have patience with +him--he had entreated of her time and time again. Things would get +better and come out all right in the end. He loved her far too well to +embitter her life with all the wretched troubles he had to deal with. +If she could help him in any way he would not spare her or be ashamed +to call upon her for aid. + +And now when he had finished reading Felix's letter, he handed it, in +silence, to his sweetheart, and stepped to the window while she read. +For a time it was perfectly still in the great room; little Frances had +clambered down from her high chair, and was busily engaged in dressing +and undressing a doll that Julie had given her only that morning. No +sound could be heard but the singing of the fire in the iron stove and +the hopping of the birds on the shelf above, where the plaster casts +stood. + +Even after Julie had read the letter to the end, she did not at once +break the silence. Not until some time had elapsed did she send the +child up to Aunt Angelica with her love, and the question whether she +might be allowed to stay up there for a quarter of an hour. Then she +stepped up to the window where Jansen stood in silence, laid her hand +on his shoulder, and said: + +"Now if I should guess what it is that secretly troubles you, my +dearest friend, would you confess it to me then?" + +He turned, and passionately folded her in his arms. "Julie!" he +said--"what good would that do? There are some difficulties that are +insurmountable. I can only feel sure you have not vanished from the +world when I hold you to my heart, press my lips to yours, feel my hand +in yours--" + +"Be still!" she said, smiling, and gently disengaging herself from him. +"I didn't send Frances away for you to forget all that you have so +solemnly promised me. Let us be sensible, my dear friend--indeed we +must be. Sit down over there, and try, for once, to listen to me, +instead of looking at me. Do you know, I consider it positively +discourteous of you to pay no attention to my wisest words, merely +because, after such a long acquaintance, your eyes still find something +about me to 'study?'" + +"O Julie!" he said, and a sad smile passed over his face. "If words +could only help--if the sense and understanding and all the strength of +soul of a noble woman could but avail against the treachery and +unreasonableness of gods and men! But speak, and I will close my eyes +and listen." + +"Do you know, you and your young friend are sick of one and the same +illness?" she now said, for he had covered his eyes with his hand and +taken a seat on the sofa, while she stood leaning upon the window-sill. + +"I and Felix? I don't understand you." + +"You have both come into the world too late, you are both wandering +anachronisms, as he says of himself alone in his letter. His energy and +your artistic nature to-day no longer find the soil and air that are +good for them, and that they deserve. When I look about me, dearest, I +say to myself: 'Where are now the people, the prince, the century to +appreciate this power, to lay commissions, reward, honor, and +admiration at the feet of this creative spirit? to post sonnets on the +door of his workshop, to make a passage for him when he strides among +the multitude, as we read that the ancients did, and the great men, +under the rule of the famous popes and the pomp-loving princes?'--Oh! +my dearest friend, I could weep tears of blood when I think how, +instead of all this, you live here, appreciated only by a circle of +good friends and enthusiastic disciples, and are made the butt of +stupid malice or blind ignorance in all the newspapers! And then, when +a demand arises for the production of some work to adorn a square or a +building, wretched quacks, who are not worthy to unloose the latchet of +your shoes, come running up by all sorts of back-stairs and secret +ways, and steal the prize away from you, and you remain hidden in the +dark! Now, don't shake your head! I know how you think about the +applause of the masses, and how little you begrudge it to the poor +wretches who hear no divine voice within them. But be honest now--if +this monument"--she mentioned the name of a man to whom a statue had +just been erected, on which occasion Jansen's application had, as +usual, been rejected--"if this commission had fallen to you--and then +another had followed close upon that--how differently you would stand +in your own esteem when you had become a central figure of your time! +To say nothing of the fact that then you would be able to close the +factory, as you call it, next door, and would have no need to strike a +blow of the mallet that did not come straight from the heart!" + +She had talked herself into a state of great excitement; and now, when +he looked up at her, the shining brightness of her look and the soft +glow of her cheeks enraptured him. But he controlled himself and +remained seated. + +"What you say is all very wise and true," he said. "But for all that +you don't quite hit the sore spot. I have known all this ever since my +eyes were first opened to what went on around me, to what some people +produce and other people admire. Yet in spite of that I have become +what I am, and what I could no more have helped becoming than I could +have helped coming into the world. Remember, too, how much better off I +am than our friend Felix. As far as the outside world goes, we are both +hampered and confined. The age has as little appreciation of high art +as of the great personal activity toward which all his powers and +wishes urge him. But I can at least put before myself and a half dozen +true friends what there is in me, even if it has no fuller life than +this; while our friend's special strengths can only reveal themselves +in putting him at odds with everybody. + +"And, when I look about me here, will not all these dumb creatures of +mine continue to be my companions through life? I sometimes seem to +myself like a father who has a number of daughters, all of them well +brought up and each dear to his heart; and yet, loath as he is to lose +any one of them out of his sight, it seems harder and harder to him, as +the years go by, that no one of them finds a husband, and they all +remain under his roof unprovided for. However, that is fate, and one +learns to accept whatsoever the irresponsible powers bestow upon us. +But that which comes from mortals--" + +He suddenly sprang up, ran his hand through his hair, and stepped so +close to his sweetheart, that Julie, little as she feared him even in +his anger, involuntarily retreated a step. + +"Felix was right," he said, in a hollow voice. "There is only one way +of escape. These chains or others--we can never be free except on the +other side of the ocean. Julie, if you could only make up your mind, if +you feel as terribly in earnest as I do for our happiness--" + +"My friend," she interrupted him, "I know what you would say. But the +more earnestly I long for your--_our_ happiness--the more must I insist +upon our striving to attain it in a perfectly prosaic and sober way. +Your friend is a born adventurer, a circumnavigator--a world conqueror. +Your world and mine is this studio. Can we take it with us in the ship? +And do you think a finer sense of art is to be found among the Yankees +or the red-skins than among our countrymen? No, my dearest Jansen, I +think that with courage and good sense we shall be able to free +ourselves even on this side of the water. You men are masters in +despairing, we women in hoping. And, besides, the end of our year of +probation is still far enough off." + +"Hope!" he cried, gnashing his teeth. "If a tigress had me in her +claws, you might, with far more show of reason, call out to me only to +give up hope with life! But this woman! Do you know a more terrible +enemy of human happiness than this lie--this cold, rouged, heartless, +unnatural lie? If she only hated me as immeasurably as she pretends to +love me, truly, I myself should think it too soon to despair. A mortal +can become satiated even with hate; and malice, too, is something of +which one can get tired. But what is to be hoped when it is all merely +a game, and the innermost nature of one's enemy is the nature of a +comedian? Every spark of conscience has been extinguished in this +wretched woman since her girlhood; her life is to her nothing +but a _role_; her love and hate have become merely a question of +costumes--applause and money are her highest and holiest conceptions. +And she fears for both, if she lets me go free. It is flattering to +her--one success more--to be able to pose before herself and the world +as an injured innocent, a robbed wife, a mother whose child has been +taken from her--and for that reason she refuses all my entreaties and +offers with indignation, for she knows well that I would rather give up +any happiness in life than let her have the child. If you had read the +letters I have wasted upon her in these last few weeks! Letters which, +I can truly say, were written with my heart's blood--they would have +made a tigress human; and this woman---read what she answers me! I have +carried on this wretched correspondence behind your back, in the hope +of taking upon myself all that was bitter and humiliating--for what +words have I not stooped to use!--I have borne all the agony of these +last weeks, in order that I might at last lay nothing but the happy +results at your feet. Now read what sort of echo came to me from that +stony heart, and then say whether a man need necessarily be a master in +despairing, to give up all hope here!" + +He went to the large closet, unlocked a drawer, and took out several +dainty-looking letters, that diffused a sweet perfume through the room. +Julie read one after the other, while he threw himself down on the sofa +again and stared at the ceiling. The letters were written in a regular, +delicate, clear hand, and in a style which might be taken as a model of +diplomatic art. There were no traces of mere declamation, of +complaining or accusing. The writer had resigned herself to accept an +unhappy fate, for she felt herself too weak and not cold-hearted enough +to take up the battle with him: a battle in which the man to whom she +had given all stood opposed to her. This she could prevail upon herself +to do, for it was only her own happiness that she was sacrificing. But +she could never be brought to give up her claim to her child. The day +might come when the longing for a mother's love might awaken in the +poor child's heart. Then no one should have it in his power to say to +her: "Your mother has no heart for you; she has given you over to +strangers." Upon passages like this, which were repeated in each +letter, especial care had been bestowed, reminding one, here and there, +of the stage, and the last rhetorical flourish just before the curtain +falls. The last sheet, which had been received only a few days before, +concluded as follows: + +"I know all, all that you would so carefully conceal from me. It is not +only your wish to have done with the past once and forever, and to give +me back my freedom--for, according to your idea of my character, it +would cost me no effort whatsoever to live as if all were at an end +between us, especially as I do not bear your name on the stage. No, I +know what it is that not only makes you wish for a complete separation +from me, but that makes every delay unbearable. You have fallen into +the net of a dangerous beauty. If my old love for you were not stronger +than my self-love, there would be nothing I should more earnestly wish +for, or would more eagerly aid by all the means in my power, than your +marriage with this girl. She would justify me, would raise me to honor +again in your eyes, and would force from you the confession that you +had cast away your only true friend in order to nurse a serpent in your +bosom. But I am nobler than it is for my advantage to be: not, I admit, +altogether for your sake. The hope of seeing you return to me is too +tempting for me not to be willing to help you to have this experience. +But to relinquish our child to this stranger--who is said to be as +clever as she is beautiful, and as beautiful as she is heartless--to +give my blessed angel, who hovers near me in my dreams, to this +serpent--" + +Julie had involuntarily read the last few lines aloud, as if she +scorned to soften down any accusation that was directed against +herself. Her disgust and indignation would not permit her to finish the +sentence--the letter fell from her hand. + +"My dear friend," she said, "let us read no further. I must confess you +are quite right; this is hopeless. Kindness is thrown away upon such an +unnatural character as you so rightly called it, and force--where is +the force that we could use? But as for surrendering--hopelessly, and +without striking a blow--no matter how much talent I might have for +despairing, if I were opposed to this woman, I would either conquer or +die!" + +He sprang up and seized her hand. "Julie!" he cried, "you put new life +into me. Never shall she enjoy such a triumph--rather let us flee to +the ends of the earth beyond the reach of her hand--rather let us go to +the Yankees and the red-skins, but with you at my heart and our child +in our arms--" + +She shook her head earnestly. "No, no, no!" she said. "No self-imposed +banishments! It is a good thing I have my thirty-one years behind me. +Else this youthful enthusiast might succeed in the end in carrying me +off with him, and we should make a great mistake that would soon make +both him and me very unhappy. The land across the ocean is no place for +you, my beloved master. You have never cared to take part in the +modern, sentimental nonsense in our Old World; what sort of a figure +would you cut in the midst of all the humbug of the New? And as for +your giving up your art, and living only for your wife and child--how +long do you suppose you could bear that? How long would it take for the +woman for whose sake you had done this to become a burden to you? And +even if you could rest content with such a life, do you think I would +be satisfied with it? True, I have confessed that I love this man--this +violent, wicked, good, precious Hans Jansen--but I want to see him as +great, as famous, as proud, and as happy as it is possible for any one +to be in this wretched world; to love in him not only the husband and +father, but also the great master, who compels the whole world to join +with me in love and admiration. Oblige me, my dearest friend, by +throwing that correspondence there into the stove, and promise me not +to write any more. In return I promise you that I will ponder day and +night upon the best way for us to free ourselves. And if our year of +probation should pass away without our having succeeded before God and +man--here is my hand upon it! I will be yours--if not in the eyes of +men, certainly in the sight of God; and I believe I am old enough to +know what an honorable woman ought to do and to answer for." + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + +Our other friends, too, had lost in the autumn mists more and more of +that sunny, paradisiacal frame of mind which they enjoyed when we first +knew them. + +Rosenbusch went daily to his studio; but he did little there except to +feed his mice, and to take his flute out of its case, oil and clean it, +without making any attempt to call forth a sound. He would stand for an +hour before the "Battle of Luetzen," which was now completed, and heave +sighs that sounded anything but triumphant. He had long since prepared +a new canvas, on which he was intending to paint the entry of Gustavus +Adolphus into Munich, a theme which he hoped would interest even the +"Art Association." But not a stroke of the brush had he done as yet. To +tell the truth, the temperature in his studio was well calculated to +scare away the muses, and to freeze up the sweet tones of his flute. +Even the mice, who were more accustomed to it, squealed uncomfortably +in their little wire cage; while their friend and master, wrapping the +mediaeval horse-blanket about his painter's jacket, strode thoughtfully +up and down, casting a look of displeasure at the cold stove every time +he passed it, as if he despised it as a friend who only remained +faithful as long as it was kept warm itself. The money he had last +received, for illustrating a book of soldiers' songs, had long since +been spent. It is true, a dealer in antiquities had made him a very +considerable offer for an old casket with a skillfully-ornamented +silver cover, which was said to have originally belonged to no less a +person than General Illo. But he could not make up his mind to barter +this valuable old relic for vulgar fire-wood. He was too proud to +borrow of Elfinger, who had hard work to live himself; or to reveal the +state of his circumstances to the other inmates of the house. If +any one chanced to come across him wandering about alone in his +strange disguise, he declared, with a beaming face, that he was too +full-blooded to bear the heat of a stove. Besides, he was in one of his +poetical moods, and was brooding over an epic poem which was to treat +of the astonishing and pitiful love-adventure of the Swedish commander +with Gustel von Blasewitz. And composing a poem was a very heating +occupation, unless the "shade of a laurel-wreath" was there to cool the +forehead on which stood the anxious sweat of the muses. + +Toward noon he threw aside his horse-blanket and went around to +Angelica's room, where it was warm and cozy. The good girl led the same +quiet, industrious life now as before; sold one flower-piece after +another, cheaply but surely; painted the children of tender parents who +had no money to spare for art, but yet liked to see their _salon_ +adorned with the red-cheeked curly-heads of their own flesh and blood; +and had certainly no good cause for mourning over the pining away of +the beautiful summer. And yet, she too was perceptibly depressed in +spirits. Whether it was her righteous anger at the flirting and +profitless pangs of her red-bearded neighbor, who since the excursion +on the water had only been permitted to exchange a few hasty glances +and notes with his sweetheart (her father having found out about the +Starnberg adventure, and had a scene with Aunt Babette); or whether the +clouded happiness of her beautiful friend caused her silent pain, or +awakened in her breast a very pardonable longing for a similar +fulfillment of her own earthly mission--who shall say? + +She herself never suffered a word of complaint to escape her; and +exhibited, particularly to her secretly-betrothed friend, the most +contented face in the world. But the change in her spirits did not +escape Rosenbusch. He had to submit to be lectured by her oftener than +ever, and in a far sharper tone, not only because of his inactivity, +but also more particularly because of the aimless and unmanly way in +which he carried on his love affair. She would say such harsh things to +him about it, that any one else would have run out of the room. But he, +meanwhile, would water her flowers with the most penitent and humble +mien, would wash her brushes, and end by assuring her that he never +felt so well as when she was blowing him up; he felt then that he had +no better friend in the world than she was. But he would not be such a +fool as to improve, for he only interested her because of his faults. +She had no appreciation of his praiseworthy qualities, inasmuch as she +could not abide poems, _adagios_, and mice. Whereupon she used first to +laugh, and then, with a shrug of the shoulders and a meaning sigh, to +subside into silence. + +Nor did "Edward the Fat" pass his days any more cheerfully, though he +was surrounded once more by his city comforts, and was relieved of the +hated task of enjoying Nature. For the first time in his life this +spoiled child of fortune had a wish unfulfilled, and, what sharpened +the sting of the privation, a wish that by no means aspired to far-off +clouds and stars, but lay apparently within reach of his hands. +Heretofore he had had no cause to complain of the unkindness and +cruelty of women. The singular contrast between his indolent, sluggish, +and phlegmatic manner, and the keen intellectual power that flashed +from his eyes and played about his lips, to say nothing of the +contemptuous way in which he was in the habit of treating the proudest +and most exacting women, provoked them to enter the lists with him, and +to challenge and abuse him, until, very unexpectedly, they found +themselves worsted. But now, for the first time, he had encountered a +being to whom he was forced to stoop in every sense of the word; for +she was neither beautiful, nor educated, nor particularly prudish, nor +even of good birth. And this strange creature treated him with the most +persistent coldness, remained as insensible as a stick to his tenderest +words and most heart-felt homage, and, finally, slipped out of his +hands altogether. For, in spite of all their endeavors, neither he nor +old Schoepf succeeded in discovering the girl's hiding-place. + +Ever since Schnetz had let him into the secret, Rossel had become more +and more intimate with the old grandfather, and had even proposed to +him to accept of a room in his house. The old man, who, in the mean +while, had moved into somewhat larger quarters, so as to be ready to +receive the girl the moment she should knock at his door, declined this +offer, but was very glad to pass his lonely hours in the company of his +brilliant young friend. They would spend hours--for neither of them had +anything to do--deep in discussions about what was really the main +thing in art, or what should or should not be painted; and it was only +when they heard the door-bell ring at some unusual time that they would +both start up and listen eagerly, hoping it might possibly be the lost +girl returning penitently to her best friends. + +The only ones whose spirits remained unaffected were Kohle and Schnetz; +the latter, because his Thersites disposition had struck its roots too +deeply into his nature for him to be either elated or depressed by +anything he experienced; Kohle, on the other hand, because, like the +happy genii of his Hoelderlin, he "soared in the celestial light above," +and was incapable of giving his heart to the fate of mortals, no matter +how closely he might be bound to them by ties of friendship, for more +than a few hours at a time. During these misanthropical November days, +Schnetz, when not engaged in the service of his little highness, sat in +his den of _silhouettes_, cut out bitter satires, smoked, read Rabelais +at Rossel's suggestion, and, for whole days at a time, spoke to no one +except his pale little wife; while Kohle, in a far more wretched, +unheated room, passed his days making new designs which, with fingers +stiff with cold, but with a heart all aglow with happiness, he sketched +on the back of a large fire-screen instead of on paper, which he had +not the money to buy. + +Under these circumstances it was not to be wondered at that the two +meetings of the Paradise Club, which took place before the end of the +year, were not attended by that festal flow of spirits that had +characterized most of their predecessors. Old Schoepf stayed away +altogether; Rossel did not speak a word; Jansen did not make his +appearance until nearly midnight, and sat brooding with a dark look in +his bright eyes, while he emptied glass after glass without being +warmed by his potations. Elfinger, whose relations to his pious +sweetheart grew every day more hopeless, and had begun to seriously +tell upon his spirits, was scarcely more talkative, and the jokes with +which Rosenbusch favored the company had, in Rossel's opinion, a biting +flavor, like preserved fruit that has begun to ferment. The younger and +less prominent members felt the weight that rested on the whole circle, +but were either too modest or too poorly supplied with brains to +succeed in enlivening matters at all; and an uncomfortable feeling +began to creep over first one and then the other, that perhaps in the +life of their society, as in that of every human alliance, the moment +had arrived when a sudden decline succeeds to a period of highest +prosperity, and when a swift dissolution appears more dignified and +more welcome than a long era of gradual decline and decay. + +There was one member who did not make his appearance on these evenings, +although he was still in the city and apparently in just the mood for +such festivities--namely, Angelos Stephanopulos. This or that one had +encountered him, on foot or in a carriage, acting as knight to his +lady, the Russian countess, who had been away for a few months, but had +now returned to that same private hotel where--though at some distance +from the nocturnal musical orgies--Irene and her uncle were awaiting +reassuring reports from Italy. Irene had satisfied the demands of +etiquette by making a formal call upon her fellow-lodger, but had +avoided any more intimate intercourse. + +Upon this point her uncle had submitted all the more readily to his +young governess because, at bottom, he felt more aversion than liking +for all but martial or dancing music. But another promise which his +strict little niece exacted from him, that he would never say a word to +any one about her former relations to Felix, appeared to him so useless +that he did not think it a matter of conscience to keep it any longer +than while they were all such near neighbors in the country. + +At his first meeting with Schnetz he informed his friend and +brother-in-arms of the whole story. + +He earnestly besought him to exert all his influence to rouse Felix +from his dogged silence. Only a single visit from him--now, in the +interesting paleness of convalescence--just to thank them for their +sympathy during his illness; and the world must have turned topsy-turvy +since he was young, if these two estranged lovers did not make up +again. + +Schnetz listened to these propositions with his usual morose calmness, +abused his imperial terribly, and then remarked--that this commission +was not to his taste. He had too great a regard for Felix to help him +to a bride who could not love him just as he was, with all his faults +and weaknesses. He doubted himself whether he should be doing the young +man a favor if he did so. He was keeping house very comfortably out +there in the solitary villa, going into the woods every day with Homo +and a good double-barreled gun; and even though he did not shoot much, +he unquestionably killed time after a much more manly fashion than if +he were here striving to regain the favor and forgiveness of a spoiled +princess. Besides, he was intending to put his affairs in order soon +after Christmas, and then to set sail in the early spring; for he had +taken it into his head that the air in America would agree with him +better than that of his native land. + +This announcement threw the uncle into the liveliest state of alarm. He +depicted to his friend in such dark colors the future that threatened +him, if Felix should carry out this resolution, the prospect of the +life-long guardianship of a Fraeulein who would soon be getting +_passee_, who would grow more whimsical and unmanageable from year to +year, and who would make him suffer for the wrong which she herself had +done to her own happiness by her proud obstinacy; he besought him in +such moving terms not to leave him in the lurch, now of all times, that +finally Schnetz took pity upon him and promised to at least seize the +first opportunity to question Felix concerning the real state of his +feelings. + +For a moment he felt tempted, now that they were on the subject of +confessions, to give this lively bachelor, who only wanted to get rid +of his ward in order that he might once more enjoy "life" perfectly +unrestrainedly, a hint in respect to certain natural duties toward +another orphaned child. But a dark presentiment, that possibly a more +suitable hour might come for such a disclosure, restrained him. And, +moreover, as Red Zenz appeared to have vanished from the face of the +earth, there would be no use, for the present, in awakening paternal +feelings of which the visible object was perhaps lost for ever. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + +Thus the year drew toward its end, and Christmas stood before the door. + +In former years they had always had a Christmas-tree at the Paradise +Club. But this time the friends felt disposed to celebrate a more +domestic festival, in a narrower circle. In the course of this year +they had been drawn closer to one another, and had withdrawn more and +more from the other members of "Paradise." Nor was Angelica any longer +the only representative of her sex among them, and the only one thus +excluded from the men's festivals. And so it was determined that +Christmas Eve should be celebrated in the studio-building; that the +tree should be set up in Rosenbusch's room, and the table laid in +Angelica's--a plan which the two neighbors laid before the others as a +joint idea of their own. Each deposited his contribution toward the +preparations, in a money-box of which Angelica was the custodian. + +Nor did Rosenbusch fail to contribute his share, although Angelica +tried by all sorts of pretexts to prevent him. How he had suddenly +come into possession of money again--for he had not sold any of his +work--was a mystery to Angelica, until she helped him to clear out his +studio in order to make room for the Christmas decorations. Then she +missed the silver-mounted box, his most precious treasure. Upon her +reproaching him about the matter he replied: + +"What would you have, my dear friend? It is my misfortune to be a +single man. If I were the father of a family and could not pay my rent +I should be relieved of all want. For you must know that the Art +Society looks at the distress rather than at the talent of those of +whom it buys pictures. Help me to a wife, and I promise you not to +dispose of another article from my museum." + +And then for several days he was in the brightest of spirits, hammering +and working as though he were engaged in arranging the studio for his +own wedding, and, in the short intervals of rest, taking his flute from +its case again. + +Christmas Eve came at last. In the afternoon the hermit of the lake +returned to the city, with the faithful Homo, who had now become his +inseparable companion. Felix's first visit was to Jansen. They were +alone together for some hours--hours that carried them back to the time +of their early friendship, so freely did each open his heart, and so +keenly did they realize once more what they were and always would be to +one another. Yet they both avoided touching upon the details of their +past, as though it were taken for granted that each had an accurate +knowledge of the other's history. + +That Jansen was struggling impatiently to free himself from his bonds, +and that Felix had given up all hope of ever finding his old happiness +again, was all that they confessed. Then they went, arm-in-arm, to +visit Julie, who received her lover's friend with all her sweetness and +kindness. It did Felix good to be with these two happy people, and he +expressed this feeling with so much warmth that Julie thought him +extremely charming, and purposely turned the conversation upon his +emigration plans in order to dissuade him from them, if it were still +possible. But he remained unshaken; and it seemed as if, in spite of +all this kind friendship, he could not wait for the time when he should +set foot upon the shore beyond the ocean. What it was that was driving +him away was not referred to by a word. + +Before the evening's festival, they separated for a few hours. Jansen +and Julie had first to light a Christmas-tree for little Frances and +her foster brothers and sisters, and it was eight o'clock when they +reached the studios. + +Yet they were not too late, but, on the contrary, had to wait for +some time down-stairs in Jansen's rooms with the other friends, +until Rosenbusch, who was always finding some last improvements to +make in the decorations, gave the signal by ringing a hoarse, old +hand-bell--like his other treasures, an historically authenticated +household utensil of the famous Friedlander. + +Besides their intimate circle, Felix, Rossel, Elfinger, Schnetz and +Kohle, no one had been invited but old Schoepf. It had cost much +trouble to persuade the old man to come, for on this day he missed his +lost grandchild more bitterly than ever. Once persuaded, he seemed, in +his silent way, greatly touched; though he strove not to disturb the +merry mood of the others. Then, too, there was so much to be seen and +admired and laughed at in the Christmas room--Rosenbusch had so +surpassed himself, had arranged such tasteful decorations, had made so +many verses and prepared so many mottoes, that it was a full hour +before the distribution of presents was over. + +Then when the lights on the tree had begun to sputter and go out, one +after the other, Schnetz suddenly produced a box, in which, up to this +time, he had kept his present concealed. It was a series of the most +amusing silhouettes, which he now passed in review on a white screen by +means of a magic-lantern. They represented the events and adventures of +the past year, none of those present escaping without a full share of +ridicule. The exhibitor himself was not spared, and it is scarcely +necessary to say that his knightship of the rueful countenance was +unmercifully made fun of. + +While every one was enthusiastically demanding a repetition of this +shadow dance, Angelica slipped away to look after the supper, like a +careful hostess. At length she reappeared and invited them to table; +whereat Rosenbusch ventured to remark that it was high time they should +cut a door through the wall so that they might visit one another in a +friendly, neighborly way, without having to go round by the cold +corridor. The confusion of the moment permitted Angelica, who was +usually very strict in keeping this light-hearted red-beard within +bounds, to ignore this somewhat audacious remark. + +So they entered the other festal hall, in the centre of which stood a +tastefully-laid table covered with shining dishes, plates and glasses, +ornamented with flowers and surmounted by a slender miniature +Christmas-tree, from which hung candy and sweetmeats for the dessert. +But we must unfortunately deny ourselves the pleasure of describing the +joys of the table, to which this select company now abandoned itself. +It is enough to know that it was one of those singularly happy evenings +when everything succeeds, when the serious vein is not too heavy, and +the merriment not too light, the sentiment not too gushing, and the +jollity not too noisy. No one could resist the charm of the cheery +present, or brood with sad thoughts upon the past or future; and even +Felix and old Schoepf soon had no further need to force their feelings, +in order to join in the merry laughter over Schnetz's biting jests and +Rosenbusch's inexhaustible drolleries. + +Besides all this, the domestic talents of the two ladies stood the test +most gloriously. Angelica's simple entertainment found favor even with +Rossel; and a hidden genius was discovered in Julie for brewing an +incomparable punch, according to a receipt which she had inherited from +her father, the general. It was, therefore, merely an expression of the +universal feeling when Rosenbusch rose, and in neat verses, which +unfortunately have not been preserved, proposed the health of their two +lady-friends, the foster-sisters of this circle, who had so wisely +administered the peculiarly feminine office of providing for the +earthly wants of poor humanity. + +This toast, which was received with the wildest applause, was followed +by a number of merry, gallant, and serious harangues; and even the two +ladies mustered up sufficient courage to make some pretty little +speeches, which, it is true, they did not succeed in finishing without +considerable blushing and hesitation. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + +In the midst of a pause that followed the reading of some singularly +tender and beautiful verses by the hitherto silent Kohle, the happy +party heard the clock on a neighboring tower strike the hour of +midnight, and it was only when the twelfth stroke had died away that +their solemnly exorcised spirits seemed to wake once more from their +enchantment. + +Rossel rose, went up to Kohle, and embraced him, calling him "du" for +the first time. He declared that Father Hoelderlin looked down from his +blissful heights upon his son, with whom he was well pleased. The +others, too, roused themselves, and expressed, each according to his +fashion, their thanks to the greatly embarrassed poet, to whose health +the only one who could have been jealous of him--the poetical +Rosenbusch--proposed, amid the enthusiastic acclamations of all, that +they should drink the last glass of punch. + +Schnetz propounded the question whether sufficient cause could be shown +why this was and must be the last glass. But Angelica, although she +protested that she wished to exert no pressure upon any one else, +persisted, for her own part, in withdrawing; and as the men, too, felt +that the festal mood of the evening had reached its height, it was +decided to leave the faithful Fridolin to extinguish the lights, and to +start together on their homeward ways. + +Jansen escorted his betrothed; Rosenbusch offered his arm to Angelica; +behind them came Elfinger with Kohle, of whom he had begged a copy of +his poem, promising in return to give him a few hints in the art of +delivery. Schnetz and Rossel, one on either side, supported old +Schoepf, so as to keep him from falling, for he found it hard to walk +on the slippery pavement, which was covered over with a thin layer of +ice. + +The last was Felix. His voice had not been heard for some time back, +and no one noticed when, without saying good-night, he turned into a +side-street, and went his way alone. + +Pulling his hat far down over his face, he rushed as hastily through +the raw night as though he were somewhere impatiently expected. His +wounds, which were still scarcely healed, pained him; the fiery drink +had heated his blood after his long abstinence; and restless, joyless +thoughts throbbed through his brain. Before he was aware of it, he +found himself in the square before the hotel where Irene lived. Schnetz +had let fall a word, as if by chance, about their having taken other +rooms, because of the musical _soirees_. Where ought he look for her +window now? They light no Christmas-trees in inns; besides, it was past +midnight, and in only a few of the windows was the light still burning. + +His eyes fastened themselves unconsciously upon a bright window in the +second story. The dark outline of a woman's figure was visible there +for a moment; but he could not make out whether it was she who was +peering out through the frosted window into the Christmas night. Then +the figure drew back again, but he remained. + +He stood leaning against a lamp-post, insensible now to the chilling +fog and the pain of his wounds. It seemed to him as if he were already +on the shore of the New World, and between him and that bright window +the broad ocean stretched. Never had he realized so clearly that he +could never be happy without this girl, and yet he had never been so +far removed from every hope. He said to himself that he must not return +to this spot so long as he remained in the city, unless he would see +the courage which he had mustered up with so much pain broken again and +his determination shaken anew. He must forget once for all that there +was a bright window here; he swore it to himself with the full +consciousness of how hard it would be for him to keep his vow. + +At this moment the light in the window went out. It made a cold shudder +pass over him, as if he had received a confirmation of his fears that +all was at an end forever. Then he roused himself, and slowly started +on the way to his lodgings. + +In spite of the late hour, the streets were full of life. The Christmas +mass, which lasted from twelve to one, still kept many pious or curious +people on their feet. Felix had not gone far when he overtook two +couples, who seemed to be in even less of a hurry than himself. A +large, stout woman walked in front, hanging on the arm of a young man +who appeared to be telling her some very amusing story, for she +laughed incessantly in a deep, coarse voice, every minute turning her +head--whose thick, black hair was but loosely wound with a red +kerchief--that she might look at the second couple, as if she wondered +why they did not laugh too. The latter were not walking arm-in-arm; but +the man kept close to the girl and spoke incessantly to her in a low +voice, while she walked by his side with drooping head, as though she +did not belong to him, and were paying no attention to his talk. + +The light of the street-lamp now fell upon the group, brightly +illuminating a little hat with a black feather, that sat jauntily upon +a gold-red chignon. + +"Zenz!" cried Felix in surprise. + +The girl suddenly stood still, and looked around her. + +"Is it really you?" he cried, hastily stepping to her side. "Where have +you been hiding all this time? But I see you are with company. I won't +detain you." + +She still stood there, without moving or answering a word. But her +companion, an insolent, dissipated-looking young fellow--apparently a +young salesman--took upon himself to reply for her, and declared that +he would not allow any one "to strike up an acquaintance with his girl +in the street," in his presence, and without an introduction to him. + +With this he offered Zenz his arm to take her to the others, who had +only just discovered what was taking place, and were looking round +toward the stragglers. + +"You have nothing to say here, my good friend," replied Felix, with the +greatest coolness. "If Fraeulein Zenz has no objection to standing here +with me, I have a good deal to say to her, and you can wait until I +have done, unless you should prefer to go on. How is it, Zenz? Have you +five minutes to spare for an old friend?" + +The girl now quickly raised her eyes to his and said, in a timid tone +that sounded strangely from her lips: + +"Is it true that you haven't forgotten me yet?"--Then, before he could +answer, she turned to the others: + +"You needn't give yourselves any further trouble about me; I can find +my way fast enough. Goodnight!" + +"Hullo!" cried the young fellow, "that _would_ be cool--to drop a man +in the street in this style when another comes along. Damn it, sir--" + +He had just turned in a threatening way upon Felix, and had called up +the others to bear witness that he didn't intend to suffer any such +treatment, when the big, black-haired woman recognized Felix, and +hastily whispered a few words to the excited man that seemed to make a +marked impression on him. He gave vent to a few more furious +expressions, and then suddenly burst out into a hoarse laugh. Making an +ironical bow to Zenz, and calling a coarse epithet after her, he turned +upon his heel and followed the two others, who went on their way as if +nothing had happened. + +"Nice company I find you in," said Felix, drawing nearer to the +trembling girl. "I thought it likely you couldn't feel very happy among +them. Come, you must tell me now what sort of people they are, and how +you have been living since I saw you last. If I saw rightly, that big +woman was the 'Black Therese.' Poor child! things must have gone very +badly with you, to make you take refuge with _her_!" + +She hung on his arm, and let him lead her down the street. He saw, with +heart-felt pity, how pale and haggard she had grown, and what poor +clothes she wore. Nor could she be induced, at first, to speak a word; +yet her breast heaved as if it would burst, and every now and then she +stood still and drew a deep breath. But his kind words gradually melted +the ice. She told him that she had led a wretched life; had sought in +vain for work, and had finally seen no other way than to go back once +more to her old acquaintance, who had taken her in again. But, because +she was no longer as merry as she used to be, she had not suited the +Black Therese at all; and she would gladly have gone away from her if +she had only known where to turn. The woman had tried to make her +acquainted with all sorts of gentlemen, and had scolded her for a silly +goose, because she would not consent. + +That night the Black Therese's lover had come to take both girls to the +Christmas mass. But in the church a friend of his had joined them, and +they were just on their way to a public-house to get something more to +drink. It had seemed as if heaven had opened to her when she heard +Felix's voice. And now, all of a sudden, she felt quite light at heart. +How had he happened to come along just at the right time, and how was +he getting on, and was he really quite well again? + +She began to laugh again as she asked these questions, with her old +happy, light-hearted laugh. All her wretchedness seemed of a sudden to +have vanished, and to be forgotten. + +"Zenz," he said, "you must not go back to this black devil of a woman. +She will bring you to ruin sooner or later; you can no longer have any +doubt of that. But now, what do you intend to do? Have you ever taken +any thought as to what is going to become of you?" + +Her laughing face suddenly grew dark again. + +"Indeed I have," she answered, with a thoughtful nod of the head. "I +have made up my mind to look on and see how things go until summer; +then, if I am no better off--I'm not afraid of the water, I will take +another trip on the Starnberger lake, and, when I am just in the +middle, I will close my eyes and spring in. They say it doesn't hurt at +all. + +"You see," she continued, when he did not answer, "I shall never be +happy in this world; very few are, and it is all ordered beforehand. So +why should I look on patiently while my few young years pass miserably +away? There is no one to miss me when I am out of the world. And if it +is all the same to _me_ whether I live or not, what does it matter to +any one else?" + +As she said these words, she involuntarily let go his arm, and stood +still again for a moment, to recover breath after her quick speech. + +He seized her hand. + +"Will you do something for my sake, Zenz?" he asked, tenderly--"a very +great favor? Will you promise me to do what I ask you?--to go with me +wherever I lead you? You know well enough that I mean well by you." + +She looked at him inquiringly. Then she laid her other hand in his, +too. A blush mounted to her cheeks, as if from a sudden glad hope that +was almost like a shock. + +"Do with me whatever you like!" she said, in an almost inaudible voice. +"I have no one in all the world but you. Kill me or make me happy, it +is all the same to me." + +"Come then," he answered, taking her arm again. He knew very well what +thought it was that had sprung up within her, and that he must +disappoint her hope. But he left her in her delusion, so that she would +follow wherever he should lead. + +They walked for a quarter of an hour, both in silence, through the +dark, deserted streets. At length he stood still before a house, in +whose upper story the windows were still lighted. + +"Here!" he said. + +She gave a start. "Have you moved?" she asked, regarding the house with +a look of surprise. + +"Here lives the man, Zenz, to whom I want to bring you; he will care +for you better than I myself could, even if I were willing to take you +with me to a new world. You know whom I mean, child. You did not think +of him when you said no one would miss you when you were no longer in +the world. Do you remember him now? No," he continued, as she made a +movement to escape from him, "I won't let you go; you know what you +promised me. The old man sitting there up-stairs--if you only knew how +he longs to make up to you for the wrong he did to your poor mother; if +you only knew him, Zenz, as we all do--and now he sits there in his +lonely room this Christmas-night. The lieutenant has told me of all the +things he has brought together, so that he might have some presents +ready for his grandchild in case she should hit upon the happy idea of +presenting him with herself on Christmas-eve. And, Zenz, if you could +only find it in your heart to carry out this thought, even at this late +hour, would you not be better off up there than in the tavern with +those blackguards, where you would be given vile stuff to drink, and +forced to listen to worse talk? And even if this were not so, and you +could not bear to live with him, wouldn't there still be time for that +voyage on the lake of which you spoke?" + +This last thought seemed at length to turn the scales. + +She suddenly burst out laughing again. "I was caught nicely that time," +she said; "I positively never thought of such a thing when I promised +you I would do whatever you asked of me. But, then, it was very stupid +of me; I ought to have known-- However, it's quite true that I can try +it for a while; it won't cost me my head; and if it doesn't work--why, +he won't put me under lock and key, so that I can't get away again. +Only you must say to him, in the first place, that I don't particularly +like him. I can't conceal what I really feel." + +Felix pulled the bell. A sleepy old woman, who acted as servant to +Father Schoepf, opened the door. "Goodnight, Zenz," said Felix, +cordially pressing the girl's hand. "Say for yourself whatever you have +to say to your grandfather. And I thank you for having kept your word; +you won't regret it. Good-night, and remember me to the old gentleman; +and tell him that I heartily congratulate him upon his Christmas joy. +Tomorrow I will call and see how you get on together." + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + +It was not much earlier when the two lovers, who had likewise separated +themselves from the rest, arrived before Julie's house. They had taken +a roundabout way, for Jansen, who was only too happy to have his +beautiful sweetheart on his arm, and to be alone with her at last, +would hare liked to wander about for hours. The night-air quickened all +his senses, and, in the pale light of the snow and the lamps, the face +at his side appeared to him enchantingly beautiful. But he spoke +little, just as all the evening he had been the quietest of the party. +And she understood him well enough to know that he did not speak to her +simply because he never ceased to think of her. Sometimes he would draw +her closer to him, and touch his lips to her cool, soft cheek, in the +dark shadow of the houses or in the centre of a deserted square. Then +he would speak some tender word to her, only to lapse into silence +again the next moment. + +When at last they arrived at the gate before her house, she stood still +and drew the door-key from her pocket. + +"We are really here already!" she said. "What a pity! I could walk for +hours. It seems to me as if time stood still when I am hanging on your +arm. But I must relieve my old Erich, who is sitting up until I come. +Good-night, dearest!" + +"Here?" he asked, painfully surprised--"here, in the cold street? It is +warm in your rooms." + +"And for that very reason," she said, softly, "we should find it so +much the harder to part." + +"Julie!" he cried, passionately clasping her to his breast, "_must_ we +part? Can you send me away, when we have not been able to say a +confidential word to one another all this evening? If you but knew how +I felt--" + +She gently withdrew from his embrace. "Dearest," she whispered, "I know +only too well. Do you suppose it costs me no struggle to have more +sense than you, you wild man? To still make myself out a girl without a +hearty while all the while I can feel the poor disobedient thing +beating only too wildly? Oh, my darling, if you and I were only alone +in the world--" + +"Who is there besides ourselves who can separate us from one another?" +he cried, hotly. + +She laid her soft hand entreatingly upon his mouth. There were some +people passing who stopped to listen to his loud voice. "Be quiet, +dearest!" she whispered. "Be good, be gentle, be patient for just a +little while longer; and think, too, of my own feeling. Have you +forgotten that I have determined to be a good mother to our little +Frances? I always want to be able to look her in the eyes, and on our +marriage-day, too, when I wear the bridal-wreath that I have honorably +deserved. The happiness of belonging to you is so great that it may +well be worth a time of probation. And now good-night, until to-morrow, +and don't be angry with me. Some time you will thank me for having +to-day made myself out stronger--than I really am." + +With these words she threw her arms tightly round his neck, and gave +him a long and loving kiss. Then she hastily escaped, opened the gate, +and vanished down the dark garden-walk that led to the house-door. He +waited to see the light appear in her window; he could not feel +reconciled to parting from her in this way. But she knew that it would +only be the harder for him to tear himself away if he should see a +light in her window. With throbbing pulse and burning cheeks she +entered the dark room, refusing to take the lamp which the old servant +had in readiness. So she undressed herself by the faint light that +penetrated through the blinds, and hastily sought her bed, to lie a +long time sleepless, thinking of all the happiness that was in store +for her. + + +Nor did Rosenbusch make any great haste to take his lady home. They +were both in a very merry mood, and he especially made so many +brilliant jokes that he kept her laughing continually. It was by sheer +oversight that they suddenly found themselves standing at last before +her house and Angelica expressed her surprise that the way had been so +short. It was so refreshing to be out in the cold winter night, after +all the punch and laughter. + +A droschky drove slowly past. Rosenbusch proposed that they should take +a drive to the Nymphenburg. But she would not hear of such a thing, but +advised him to go home like a respectable person, and not to seek +companions in some wine-house and spend the night with them in +drinking; he had more in his head already than was good for him. But +when she did not succeed in getting the house-door unlocked, she had to +put up with his remark that her hand did not seem to be a very steady +one either. "A man must guide her steps," he sang from the +"Zauberfloete," as he took the key from her and opened the door with a +smart wrench. "It was very true," she said, "she did not know how to +manage latch-keys as well as certain night-birds. But now, many thanks +and goodnight!" + +With these words she attempted to step into the house; but he, in his +merry, audacious mood, could not restrain himself from quickly seizing +her round the waist and giving the good girl, who looked positively +pretty with her hood and her red cheeks, a sounding kiss upon the lips. +But this was carrying the joke too far, in her opinion. + +"Herr von Rosebud," she said, in her coldest tone, "you have drunk more +than is good for you, and are not entirely responsible for what you do. +For that reason I can't be so severe upon your forgetfulness of all +propriety as I otherwise should be. I will merely remark to you that my +name is not Nanny, and that I wish you a very good-evening." + +She made him a formal courtesy, and attempted to slip quickly past him. +But he held her fast by her cloak and said, in a droll, pathetic tone: + +"You wrong me greatly, Angelica. Truly, I have such a devilish respect +for you, I honor you so boundlessly as the model of all womanly +virtues, that I would rather eat my head than forget what I owe to you. +But will you have the goodness to remember that we have sleighing now? +and although we two have merely slid here on foot, still I thought +myself entitled, as your true knight, to take this liberty. If this was +an error, can you find it in your heart to condemn me for it to the +eternal punishment of your direful wrath?" + +She could not help laughing at the crushed and penitential mien, which +the cunning rascal knew so well how to assume. + +"Go!" she said, in her old tone again. "On Christmas night the Saviour +came into the world to suffer for all sinners. And, perhaps, you may be +forgiven too." + +"I thank you," he responded, very quietly. "And in token thereof, dear +fellow-Christian, seal your solemn forgiveness, in the sight of this +starry heaven, with a voluntary, sisterly kiss. No, you must not refuse +me this, unless you want me to pass a sleepless night. You are no +Philistine, dearest Angelica." + +"I wish I were one," she sighed. But then she kindly and without +further resistance offered him her red lips, and said, once more: +"Good-night, my dear Rosenbusch!" and the house-door closed between +them. + + + + + + _BOOK VI_. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +The new year had come, but it brought little that was new. + +One day, about the middle of January, when a light snow was falling in +large flakes, the carriage of the old countess had been standing for +more than an hour before the hotel in which Irene was stopping with her +uncle. The coachman, buried in his high-shouldered bearskin coat, had +fallen into a doze, and the horses hung their heads and meekly suffered +themselves to be covered with the falling snow. But it seemed as though +the silent fall of the flakes would come to an end sooner than the +storm of German and French phrases with which the lively old lady +overwhelmed the young Fraeulein, who sat absently listening to her. + +Her uncle had retired into a window-niche, and was looking over an +illustrated hunting-book; now and then he threw in a word, a question +about this or that acquaintance, which immediately gave the old +countess an opportunity to begin a new chapter of her town-gossip. + +When, in the midst of this, the servant announced the arrival of the +lieutenant, Irene could not suppress a glad "Ah!" This time she found +his riding-boots, stiff with snow, and his shabby old winter overcoat, +in which he was muffled up to the eyes, by no means so objectionable as +usual, but welcomed him as a friend in need, and, smiling gratefully, +gave him her hand, which he pressed tightly between his rough buckskin +gloves. + +But for all that she was disappointed in her hope, for he silently +threw himself into a chair, stretched out his legs and beat time with +his riding-whip on his high boots, while the old lady, taking up the +lost thread of her discourse again, began to spin on as zealously as +ever. + +Her conversation dealt for the most part with the festival calendar of +the great world, with receptions, _soirees_, routs, and the amateur +theatricals that had been given by the French ambassador. Then the +question whether there was a prospect of any court balls, and how many +there would be, was discussed at length, with great vigor, and with +many references to former times, when the good lady was a reigning +belle. + +All at once it seemed to occur to her that she had the conversation +entirely to herself. + +"_Mais savez-vous, mon cher Schnetz_," she said, turning to him, "_que +vous avez une mine a faire peur? Je ne parle pas de votre toilette_--in +that respect you have never been very indulgent toward us. But all the +time I am trying to initiate our dear Irene into the programme of her +winter pleasures--for we can never think of letting her travel off into +that land of cholera and brigands, where they are threatening to cut +the throat of our religion and of the holy Father--you sit there like +Hippocrates--_le dieu du silence; et on voit bien, que vous vous moquez +interieurement de tous ces plaisirs innocents._ Of course, in regard to +dancing, the gentlemen now-a-days are quite _blase_. But although you +yourself can no longer take any pleasure in the joys of the carnival--" + +"You are greatly mistaken, my dear countess," interrupted Schnetz, +seriously. "I am so far from being indifferent to the pleasures of +dancing that I actually propose to dance all night long, four days from +to-day, provided I can find a partner who will dare to trust herself +with such a dancing bear." + +"Four days from to-day? _Vous plaisantez, mon ami._ Where is there +going to be a ball four days from to-day?" + +"Not in the higher spheres, gracious lady, but still a very excellent +and respectable hall; moreover, in masks, which fact would in itself +make it worth attending. The truth is," he said, addressing himself to +Irene, "on Saturday we propose to open the carnival in our 'Paradise,' +about which I have already told you. You undoubtedly remember that +young baron, who took our boat in tow that day on the lake, and who +afterward had the difficulty with that murderous scoundrel? He is going +away to America--no one knows exactly why; and, as we all like him, we +are anxious to give him a formal farewell _fete_. For in all the five +points of the globe he will never see again such a masquerade as we can +make for him!" + +A short pause followed these words. Irene had suddenly grown as pale as +death; it seemed to her as if she could not breathe; her uncle laid +aside his hunter's album, and rose, contriving, as he did so, to +secretly step on Schnetz's toe--the latter was apparently occupied in +the most innocent manner, with his heavy silver watch-chain, from which +were suspended a boar's tooth, a few trinkets, and a large seal ring. + +"_Comment?_" said the old lady. "He is going off to America? _C'est +drole_--and at this time of year--_au c[oe]ur de l'hiver!_ And I have +been meaning to ask you, my dear Schnetz, to bring this young man to +see me--he certainly looks as if he might be a magnificent dancer, and +from his birth and education he could not but prefer the balls in +society to any dancing parties that your artist friends might give." + +"That is a question, countess," remarked Schnetz, dryly, as he rubbed +his disfigured ear; "or, rather, knowing the man as I do, it is not a +question at all. My friend's taste is altogether too unprejudiced for +him to consult the peerage to find out whether he may amuse himself or +not, or to judge by a merry dancer's eyes whether she is worth having +for a partner. He has had sufficient experience of what you are pleased +to call society to enable him to turn his back upon it without regret. +He now seeks society where he can find it; and, if it belongs to the +set you consider disreputable, it is good enough for him on carnival +eve, if for no other reason than because the so-called 'good society' +is only called so because, as a well-known Weimar councilor once +remarked, 'it never yet afforded material for even the smallest +poem.'" + +"_Toujours le meme frondeur!_" laughed the old lady. "_Mais on doit +pourtant observer les convenances_; I mean, even if your friend does +sometimes condescend to enter this _Boheme_, as you yourself do--" + +Schnetz immediately cleared his throat loudly. "As to the +condescension," he said, with emphasis, "there can be so little talk of +that in the present case, that I can assure you that if the most +accomplished courtiers in your exclusive society should present +themselves for admission to this Paradise, they would be blackballed, +with but very few exceptions. This will give you an idea of what the +gentleman are like. As for our female guests--though they might not +always find favor in the eyes of delicate ladies--I will do them the +justice to say that they always behave themselves with propriety while +they are with us, and that they have a very good idea of what is +expected of them on such occasions. If this were not the case, do you +think I would dare to invite our honored Fraeulein to this masked ball? +to do which, by the way, was the occasion of my present visit." + +"Irene? Well, I must confess, Schnetz--_cest l'idee la plus +extravagante que vous ayez jamais eue. Irene, qu'en dites-vous, ma +chere enfant? Mais c'est un idee_-- + +"It is our rule," said Schnetz, turning to Irene, without paying the +slightest heed to this interruption, "to allow each member to bring a +lady with him, no matter whether she is known to the others or not. Her +cavalier is held responsible by the society for her behaving herself +with propriety. And up to the present time all have shown so much tact +in their choice, that nothing like a scandal has ever occurred. Of +course these good children are of all degrees of education and origin, +respectable burghers' daughters, actresses belonging to the smaller +theatres, and very likely you will find a little seamstress or milliner +among them, for whose unswerving principles I should hardly like to +answer. But all these inequalities disappear in the masquerade, and one +sees nothing but round, pretty faces, which their artist friends try to +set off as charmingly as possible. To have taken part in such a thing, +my dear Fraeulein, will be an experience for you which you will not +forget as quickly as you do the artificial routs of our aristocratic +friends, that pass without mirth or comfort, and of which one is the +exact counterpart of all the rest. + +"Then, besides," he continued, as Irene gave no sign either of assent +or dissent, "you needn't stand on any ceremony at all. If you should +not feel at home among us Bohemians, you can regard the matter as you +would a play, whose end we do not stop to see if it bores or depresses +us. I need only add that the young lady to whom Jansen is secretly +engaged is coming, as well as our honest friend Angelica, so that you +will not lack a guard of honor. Now, do help me persuade the Fraeulein, +my dear countess. I am well enough acquainted with her uncle, to know +that he will have nothing to say against it." + +"I help you, you godless tempter of youth?" cried the old lady, +wavering between sincere anger and a desire to laugh. "_Mais decidement +vous tournez a la folie, mon cher Schnetz!_ Have you forgotten that I +fill the place of a spiritual mother, _pour ainsi dire_, to our Irene? +that I feel myself responsible for all the impressions and experiences +she may encounter in our Munich? And you ask me to persuade her +to enter a society to which women _de la plus basse extraction_, +shop-girls, grisettes and models belong--a society, in a word, which is +of a thoroughly _mauvais genre_, no matter how much you bad men may +prefer it to ours?" + +While she was pouring forth this hasty speech, a singular play of +anger, pity, and withering scorn came and went upon Schnetz's face. At +length the old lady having come to an end, and making as though she +would draw Irene to her arms, as if she were a little chicken who +sought protection from the claws of a hawk, the lieutenant slowly rose, +planted himself before the sofa, folded his arms over his chest and +said, bringing out each word with a certain dry satisfaction: + +"You are too old, my good countess, and moreover too thoroughly +petrified by the atmosphere of courts, for me to venture to hope that +you will change, in any way, your ideas about men and things. But I +must respectfully request you not to make use of the expression +_mauvais genre_ in connection with any society to which I permit myself +the honor of inviting Fraeulein Irene. It is opposed to my principles to +introduce young ladies whom I esteem into any circle where they could +be insulted by anything immoral or vulgar. Upon this point, I hold even +more exclusive views than you, in spite of your duties as spiritual +mother. In the days when I was still a frequenter of 'society,' which +is undoubtedly neither better nor worse here than it is in other +capitals, I often overheard ballroom-talk which would not have been +excused in our Paradise, even by the license allowed to those who wear +masks--though we can scarcely be called prudish. It is true the +conversation was veiled in smooth French and still smoother double +meanings, which undoubtedly accounts for its being considered _bon +genre_. So much for mere _words_. And when we come to consider the +deeds of this _haute extraction_ from a moral point of view--why, you +yourself have kept a record long enough to know that one may be very +well versed in the manners of a court, and may yet, as far as looseness +of principles is concerned, rival many a grisette, or, for that matter, +many a model; and that blue blood is quite as apt to run away with the +weaker sex as red. Those gentlemen, especially--to whom you would not +hesitate to trust Fraeulein Irene for an entire cotillion--may I be +allowed to remind you of certain stories, in connection with some of +your own partners? About Baron X., for instance, who--" and he bent +down over the old lady, and whispered for some time in her ear, +notwithstanding the comical struggles she made to protect herself from +the auricular confession thus forced upon her. + +"_Mais vous etes affreux_," she cried out at length and struck at him +with her handkerchief, very much in the same way that one tries to rid +one's self of a swarm of importunate gnats. + +"I beg a thousand pardons," growled Schnetz, again addressing himself +to Irene. "_C'est contre la bienseance, de chuchoter en societe_--you +see I haven't quite forgotten my catechism of good-breeding even yet, +though I do sometimes sin against it. I merely wished to convince the +countess that the '_Boheme_' from which I have chosen my friends, does +indeed consist of men, and not of angels, but that it would be +impossible for me to introduce the Fraeulein to any one there, from whom +the history of morals and civilization in this city could learn as much +as it could from certain members of the best circles." + +The old countess hastily rose. Her face had grown very red, her +nostrils quivered. She gave a slight cough, and then said, turning with +a motherly smile to Irene, who was helping her on with her furs. + +"_Ce cher Schnetz, il a toujours le petit mot pour rire._ Well, _ma +mignonne, faites ce que vous voudrez. Je m'en lave les mains. Adieu, +Baron! A tantot! Adieu, Schnetz_, you renegade, you horrid wretch! I +see it is true what the world says of you, and what I have always +disputed, that you have the most malicious tongue in the whole city." + +She gave him as she passed a little tap, intended to be light and +coquettish, but really delivered so sharply that the recipient could +easily see how glad the same hand would have been to give him a more +forcible lesson--if it had only been good _ton_. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + +She had scarcely left the room, accompanied by Irene, when the baron +stepped up to Schnetz. + +"Well, I must confess," he cried, "you are not a cheerful man to pick +bones with! For Heaven's sake, tell me, _mon vieux_, what devil +possesses you to talk in this reckless way to that old court mummy?" + +Schnetz looked him coolly in the face, and once more began to rub his +mutilated ear. + +"Do you really think she understood me?" + +"Understood you? _Que diable!_ You certainly left nothing to be desired +on the score of plainness. I must say though, my good friend, now that +we are quite alone again, that, excellent as I find your plan of +bringing the two offended lovers together under cover of the freedom of +a masquerade, I really can't approve of the way in which you have gone +to work. For no matter how much my niece may be shaken in her whim by +the prospect of America, or how thankful she may be at heart for every +chance that is given her to capture her roving bird again--still, just +think how difficult you have made the matter for her, by bringing up +this question of the ball before that old woman! I ought to have been +kept out of the game too. Now, if she asks me on my conscience as uncle +and guardian----." + +"On your conscience? On _which_, if I may ask? On your conscience as a +baron or as a man?" + +"H'm! I should imagine that two old tent companions, such as we are, +would agree pretty well as to the matter itself. But you must admit +that much, which might seem quite innocent to me as a bachelor, could +hardly meet my approval as a guardian, in my official capacity, so to +speak. And more than this, it seems to me that there really are two +different moral standpoints for men and women, and what is right for +the one is not always proper for the other." + +"There you hit it exactly!" cried Schnetz, flying into a rage, and +throwing his whip down on the table. "That is why we never come across +a single sprig of fresh verdure in our social relations! that is why we +must eternally carry about lies, narrow-hearted makeshifts, and mean +reservations, all because we adopt a double standard of weights and +measures, and regard a damned shrug of the shoulders as an excellent +preventive for all the cancers of society! Neither of the two sexes, +when they are together, dares express itself openly, neither says all +that it thinks, each thinks to fool the other with its tricks and +quibbles, while both know very well what they are about, and ought by +good rights to laugh in each other's faces over these miserable and +perfectly fruitless sham fights. And because this whole farce is so +cursedly insipid, and this high tone of high society makes the women +gape as well as the men, therefore both sides struggle all the more +eagerly to indemnify themselves for the boredom they have suffered, +each in his own way, in clubs or worse places, or under four eyes, +where one throws aside all masks and strait-lacing. Honest old Sir John +was quite right--'A plague of all cowards, say I'--And this modern +world of ours will never grow healthy again until the two sexes become +tired of this childish mummery and meet each other half-way in an +honest endeavor to give truth a trial, without prudery and without +coarseness!" + +He raved on in this fashion for some time longer, without giving the +baron a chance to get in a syllable. Not until his breath had given +out, and he had seized upon his hat, did the other venture to offer a +meek reply. + +"All very good and fine, my dear friend, all admitted in theory. But +_in praxi_--since the world has not yet become entirely sensible--won't +it be necessary to respect the prejudices of a stupid majority for a +while longer? Can our young lady--now that this old chatterer knows +about it--go, without any further consideration, to your paradisaical +festival, where she is sure to meet dubious daughters of Eve? where it +is possible that the girl who was running after our Felix, the little, +red-haired waiter-girl, may, God knows in what costume, stir up another +scene of murder and manslaughter?" + +Schnetz had remained standing with his hand on the door. As the baron +said these words he let it go again, and stared at the excited speaker +for a while; then he laughed bitterly, and stepped back into the room +once more. + +"This waiter-girl?" said he, laying his hand on the baron's shoulder. +"Well, of all the games the devil ever played! Old friend, do you know +who this waiter-girl is, who nursed this youngster Felix so faithfully, +while others looked on from a distance? This waiter-girl, this child of +the people, who would not be fitting company for a young baroness? +Well, then, she is your own daughter, baron, and first cousin of your +high-born niece!"-- + +The baron stepped back a step or two. "_Treve de plaisanteries, mon +cher!_" he stammered, trying to laugh. "What sort of a romance is this +you are trying to palm off on me! I--I am--ha, ha, ha! A delightful +farce!" + +"I congratulate you and your good child upon the cheerful mood in which +this unhoped-for discovery finds you," remarked Schnetz, dryly. "To be +sure, the affair is by no means so tragic as it would have been, were +the mother still living. This poor deserted"--here he stepped close up +to the baron, who stood as if petrified, and pronounced her name--"this +sacrifice to our double code of morals has been dead for a year; nor +has the child any suspicion that her dear papa is leading a jolly +bachelor's life in the same city with her." + +The baron sank upon the sofa; his arms hung at his sides; the only sign +of life that he gave was in his little, restless eyes, that wandered +about anxiously and unsteadily, without seeming to rest on anything. In +the mean while Schnetz strode up and down with noiseless tread, +apparently waiting to see whether his friend, who had received so +severe a shock, stood in any need of his help or his advice. Ten +minutes passed, and neither of them had uttered a word more. + +"You will permit me to light a cigarette," growled Schnetz at length, +between his teeth; "the lady of the house seems to have no intention of +showing herself again--" + +At this moment the door of the neighboring room opened, and Irene +entered, paler than before, and with such an agitated, sad expression +upon her young face, that Schnetz gazed upon her with a feeling of +remorse. + +No sooner had the door begun to creak than her uncle sprang up, hastily +pressed his friend's hand, and whispered to him that he must speak with +him about this matter at all hazards; then he rushed out without a +glance at his ward. + +The extraordinary haste with which he retreated did not seem to strike +Irene as at all strange. She advanced quickly to the window at which +Schnetz was standing, and said: + +"Were you really in earnest about your invitation to the masquerade?" + +He assured her that it would afford him the greatest pleasure to +accompany her; all the more because, after what had been said on the +subject, he should consider it not only as a proof of her confidence in +him, but even as a token of true friendship and esteem, if she would +not refuse to accept his invitation. + +She went on to ask whether she would be allowed to come in a plain +domino and mask--talking all the time with a half-absent expression. + +He replied that only masks in costume would be admitted. As she +considered four days to be too short a time for getting ready a +complete costume, he proposed to her that, since she expressed herself +as willing to be admitted to Bohemia, she should come as a gypsy. He +offered to provide her, through his artist friends, with beautiful and +genuine materials. It would be very easy for her to get plenty of +bright coral and pearl ornaments and strings of coins with which to +ornament her hair; and he would take her to some stores where such +things could be bought. This costume, he concluded, would have the +double advantage of being easily gotten up with a few feathers and +scraps, and of permitting the wearer--since masks for the face were +prohibited--to dye her skin, to blacken her eyebrows, and to make +herself as unlike herself as possible. "I, myself, always appear as a +Spaniard, as the Knight of the Rueful Countenance, or as Duke Alba. If +I could have a Gitana upon my arm, I should be quite in character, and +should create a sensation for the first time; for they are not used to +seeing me appear with a beautiful partner." + +As he said this he kissed the young lady's hand, quite in the courtly +Spanish manner, and made as though he would take leave. But she still +held him tightly. + +"Will--that girl come, too?" she said, hesitatingly. + +"What girl, Fraeulein?" + +She looked steadily before her. "I heard all!" she said, with a slight +tremor in her voice. "The walls in this hotel are so thin that one +cannot help overhearing, in spite of one's self, all that is being said +in the next room. Oh, tell me candidly; is it really true?" + +"Unquestionably. My dear young lady, if you were a little better +acquainted with the society which surrounds you, you would find this +case by no means an extraordinary one. Besides, the circumstances are +favorable enough this time. Her own grandfather has already taken his +long-lost granddaughter in charge; so jealously, indeed, that he would +not give her up to her father, even if the latter wished it; and the +girl herself is good and respectable. She is--" + +"I know her," interrupted Irene, blushing. "And yet--it would agitate +me greatly if I should chance to meet her at the ball. There are all +sorts of--I will tell you some other time, if you feel interested." + +She suddenly broke off, and he saw that she was struggling with her +tears. + +"You may make your mind easy, my dear Fraeulein," said he, taking up his +hat and whip. "The poor child will not be present. She is in such a +strange mood since she went to live with her grandfather, and so +carefully avoids meeting any one who knew her under former +circumstances, that all the power in the world could not induce her to +visit our Paradise. But seriously, now--_a Dios_, as we Spaniards say. +Be of good courage; I believe everything will turn out better than we +dream of now." + +He gave the hand of the speechless girl a hearty pressure, and left her +alone with her aching heart, which found that it could do nothing wiser +than relieve itself by a flood of tears. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + +It so happened that, in another room of the same house, and at almost +exactly the same hour, the pleasures of the masquerade in Paradise +formed the subject of conversation. + +For some weeks past Rosenbusch had intended to make inquiries +concerning the health of his Russian patroness, who, as he knew, was +confined to her room by a slight injury to her foot. He felt it +incumbent on him to show himself a young man who respected the laws of +politeness and society, although he was a disciple of the liberal arts. + +He found the countess in her bedroom, which smelled of Russian leather +and cigarettes. A samovar and an empty champagne bottle stood on the +table by the bed, and all kinds of note-books, portfolios, French +books, and photographs lay about upon the chairs. Nelida reclined upon +the bed, robed in a long silk dressing-gown, with a black point-lace +veil thrown nun-fashion over her dark hair. She looked paler than in +the summer, and, as she extended her white hand to the painter with a +gracious smile, he was forced to admit to himself that she perfectly +understood the art of making as much capital as possible out of her +suffering condition, and of appearing still more interesting in her +enforced quiet than in her usual activity. + +She was not alone. The retired singer, who appeared to be regularly +installed as her companion, and who was at the moment engaged in the +back part of the room in poking the fire in the grate, had been sitting +in the chair which was now offered to Rosenbusch. + +Opposite the bed, in a low arm-chair, sat a younger lady, whom +Rosenbusch had not seen before, and who immediately attracted his +artistic eye. Was she a married woman or a girl? The countess did not +mention her name. But, although the soft fullness of her figure seemed +rather to indicate the mature woman, the features of the charming face +and the glance of the dark-blue eyes had a soft and dreamy expression +that was altogether maidenly. Then, too, she looked very girlish when, +chancing to look up suddenly from the embroidery on which she was +engaged, she gazed with innocent wonder straight into the face of the +speaker, then opened her lips in a laugh which displayed two rows of +the most beautiful little teeth, and the next instant bent down her +head again as if in confusion, until her thick brown hair fell low over +her forehead. + +Rosenbusch, who was smitten at once, would very gladly have drawn a +little nearer to this enchanting stranger. But the countess took +complete possession of him, making him give her a circumstantial +account of his doings and actions, and expressing an unusual interest +in the "Battle of Luetzen," which was now finished. As she was a perfect +mistress of the art of making every one believe that his particular +plans and aims were of more importance to her than anything else, +Rosenbusch did not remark, in the joy of his heart, that, in spite of +her interest in him, she yawned several times, but went on talking +about anything that came into his head--about his labors, his ideas of +art, his friends, and finally about the masked ball in Paradise. He +related, among other things, that Jansen would appear in a genuine +Venetian costume, and his betrothed in a corresponding one, which was +to be exactly copied from a portrait by Paris Bordone, in red velvet +with a little gold embroidery, and which would go marvelously well with +her pale complexion and the dull-gold color of her hair. + +While he was giving this description the beautiful stranger let her +embroidery fall in her lap, and fixed her eyes upon the speaker with +the curious expression of a child listening to a fairy tale. + +"Such a costume would be exceedingly becoming to you also, madame," +stammered the painter, who now for the first time addressed a direct +remark to the unknown person. + +She laughed absently, sighed, but said nothing. + +Nelida exchanged a quick glance with her, and then asked, as if to give +the conversation another turn, what costume Rosenbusch had chosen for +himself. The truth was, he candidly replied, his means did not permit +him to make any very great display; he should put himself into a +Capuchin's cowl, which would go exceedingly well with his beard, and, +since he was always expected on such occasions to deliver some poetical +effusion, he hoped this time to get out of the affair with a regular +Capuchin sermon. + +"No doubt you will compose a very talented and witty one," said the +countess. "But wouldn't this costume be exceedingly warm and +uncomfortable if worn long; and will it be easy for you to find a dress +for your partner that will match yours?" + +"My dear countess," sighed Rosenbusch, "I am unfortunately in a +position to bear the vow of celibacy much more easily than most of the +brothers of my order. The only partner in whom I could take any +interest--But I won't bore the ladies with my private affairs." + +"No, no, don't say that, my dear Herr Rosenbusch. Confess everything +boldly. You will find the most sympathetic appreciation here." + +"Well, then, I will tell you. I had engaged a young girl for this ball, +who, I am convinced, would unquestionably have borne off the prize from +all but the beautiful Julie. But her parents--bigoted, narrow-minded +shopkeepers--cannot be persuaded to allow the poor thing this innocent +pleasure. So you will readily understand, ladies, that I would rather +throw myself into the arms of celibacy than take up with the first one +who comes along." + +He grew red, and wiped his forehead with his gloved right hand. + +Nelida again exchanged a look with the stranger. The singer, too, now +that she felt relieved from the fear of being recognized by Rosenbusch, +had stepped up to the foot of the bed, and seemed to follow the +conversation with especial interest. + +"Perhaps," said the countess, smiling--"perhaps I may be able to +provide you with a substitute, who will in some degree make good your +loss. A moment before you came in we were saying how cruel it was of +Fate to keep me here in my room at the very time of the carnival! It is +true my dancing days are past. But my dear friend here, Madame--Madame +von St.-Aubain, a good German, by-the-way, in spite of her name-- Only +think, my principal object in inviting her to see me at this time was +in order that I might show her our Munich carnival, and now she is +forced to sit here at the side of my bed and practise the Christian +virtues of patience and charity! To be sure, if she could only find a +knight to whom I dared trust her with a good conscience--" + +"O countess!" interrupted Rosenbusch, springing up enthusiastically, +"are you really in earnest? Madame would not scorn to--" + +"You are very good, sir," lisped the stranger, in a soft, pleasing +voice, which completed the conquest of our friend's heart. "It is true +that it is my greatest wish to catch a stolen glimpse of the life that +goes on in this artists' world, about whose festivals I have heard so +much. But I am too timid to venture into a perfectly strange circle, +even under the most chivalrous protection, when, as you say, masks for +the face are prohibited." + +"I understand you perfectly, madame!" cried Rosenbusch, +enthusiastically. "It is the custom to attribute such wild things to us +artists that a lady belonging to high society might well be terrified +by them. But you shall see yourself that we are better than our +reputation. Allow me to make a proposal. I will provide you with a +monk's dress similar to my own. In order to remain unrecognized you +have only to pull the cowl over your head; and if, in addition to this, +you should fasten on some white eyebrows and a beard of the same color, +you could observe all that was going on as securely as if you were +behind a curtain or in a dark theatre-box, without anyone having a +suspicion how much grace and beauty--excuse these bold compliments--is +hidden behind this plain disguise. The only possible suspicion that +could arise would be that I led on my arm that young girl--that +obedient daughter of cruel parents, who had secretly managed to escape +from her cage." + +The stranger stood up, approached the bed, and, bending over the +countess, exchanged a few low words with her. In motion she appeared +even more attractive than in repose. Rosenbusch, who was completely +carried away, could not take his eye from this beautiful yet delicate +figure, and awaited with beating heart the result of the secret +consultation. + +At last she turned to him again, fixed her soft eyes on his face, as if +she wanted to convince herself once more that she might put confidence +in him, and then said: + +"I will really venture to do it, sir, but only under two conditions: +that you will not betray to any of your friends, even by a syllable, +that the mask at your side is a stranger, and not the person for whom +they will all take her; and that, further, you will take me out of the +company and see me to my carriage as soon as I ask you to. You need not +fear," she continued, slyly smiling, "that I will trouble you long. But +I really can't resist the desire to see so many celebrated artists +together, to admire their costumes and the beautiful women they will +bring with them. The best way will be for you to go without me, and +when the festivities are well under way--say about eleven o'clock--I +will be in the carriage at the garden-gate, where you will be so good +as to meet me. Do you agree to this, and will you give me your word +that you will strictly adhere to these conditions?" + +Rosenbusch, before whose fancy very different visions of splendor were +floating, and who was secretly convinced that he would succeed in +persuading the beautiful stranger to lay aside her disguise and shine +with him in Paradise the moment the festive spirit of the ball seized +upon her, very wisely refrained from making any objections to this +plan, and solemnly promised everything that was asked of him. He agreed +to bring the costume and all the other requisites to the hotel on the +day before the festival, for the countess insisted upon dressing her +friend in the monk's cowl with her own hands; and then he took leave in +no slight state of excitement over his unexpected good fortune. + +On the stairs he suddenly recollected Stephanopulos, and his relation +to the Russian lady. For a moment it struck him as rather strange that +the countess, since she seemed so anxious to introduce her friend to +Paradise, had not made use of this cavalier, inasmuch as she personally +could not avail herself of his escort. + +"Perhaps," thought he, complacently stroking his beard, "she is jealous +in regard to this young sinner and Don Juan, and doesn't care about +trusting this charming woman to his charge. It is possible also that +the lady herself may have expressed an aversion for this Greek +adventurer. At all events, I seem to be more agreeable to her. A +confoundedly charming little woman! I wonder where her husband keeps +himself? or possibly she is a widow. If that were the case--" + +He did not finish the sentence, even in his thoughts, for some one came +down the steps behind him, and he immediately recognized the old baron +whom he had seen out at Rossel's villa. But what had happened to the +merry old gentleman that made him answer the artist's greeting so +mechanically, and pass him, as he stood waiting on the stairs, with a +wild look, as if he had been an utter stranger? + +Rosenbusch followed him, shaking his head. "What devilish short +memories these aristocrats have!" he growled. "If this Madame von +St.-Aubain is made of the same stuff, I confess I should have a jollier +time with Nanny. However, it can't be helped; that is one of the +disadvantages of moving in the highest circles. In Rome one must do as +the Romans do." + +He threw his cloak in picturesque folds about his historical velvet +jacket, and stepped forth into the snow with the joyful mien of a +conqueror. His only sorrow was that he couldn't go at once to Angelica +and tell her what a brilliant conquest he had made. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + +Among all the friends, Felix was the only one who looked forward to the +ball not only without impatience, but even with a secret aversion. He +was in no mood for masquerading; and, if he had not been afraid of +giving offense to the good companions who were desirous of paying him +this last honor, he would have been up and away long before this. He +gave out that it was his fixed intention to leave on the day after the +ball, and answered all objection in regard to the season, which made a +sea-voyage impossible, by saying that he had important business matters +to look after in his native place, the sale of his estates, and the +making out of certain papers that it would be necessary for him to take +with him across the ocean. + +Jansen alone knew the real reason of his hasty flight. Daily +intercourse with his old friend, and the confidential understanding +that had once more sprung up between them, was all that lightened for +Felix the painful burden of these last days. It is true Jansen had +never been able to bring himself to initiate Felix into the history of +his unhappy marriage as thoroughly as he had Julie. That he had once +thrown himself away on an unworthy woman, and that he was now doing all +in his power to effect a dissolution of the hated bond, but without +success, since he had no legal proofs of her guilt, and she herself +obstinately refused to give the child up to him--all this they had +discussed one night over a bottle of wine, and had finally consoled +themselves with the thought that the land across the ocean might +eventually prove a place of refuge for Jansen also. Felix laughingly +suggested that they should undertake a mission, and preach the gospel +of high art to the redskins; and they had discussed the prospect of +winning over some American Cr[oe]sus, and, by some colossal work, +suddenly attracting the eyes of the whole world upon them. + +Then they might found an art society in the backwoods, on a somewhat +different scale from that to which people were accustomed in Germany, +and each member should receive as an initiation present a cast of the +group of Adam and Eve. + +So they went on building castles in the air in the midst of the dark +clouds that overhung their sky; and even Julie joined gladly in this +cheerful tone, though her own heart was very heavy. + +But, as the day of parting drew nearer and nearer, Felix's mood became +steadily more depressed and wretched. Schnetz was almost the only one +of his friends whom he cared to see; and he expended all his eloquence +in trying to persuade him to follow his example and shake the dust of +the Old World from his feet. Why should he lie here and grow rusty? why +should he, in his best years, voluntarily withdraw himself from life +and play the valetudinarian before his time? On the other side of the +water, abilities like his would not be allowed to lie idle, his good +wife would renew her youth again, and he might safely trust to the +Yankees to provide him with plenty of material for the exercise of his +Thersites-like black art during his leisure moments. To all this +Schnetz replied by silently and thoughtfully rubbing his ear, without, +however, giving any reason to believe that he absolutely declined the +proposal. Indeed, he seemed to be bent upon keeping the lonely and +dejected youngster in as good spirits as possible, and was especially +active in trying to laugh away Felix's distaste for the ball, as an +attack of sentimentality that a future American ought not to yield to. +If it was a bother for him to look after a costume, he would be very +glad to lend him a helping hand. + +Felix thanked him for his good-will. He had, among the various relics +of his travels, the complete suit of a Spanish majo, which he had +brought with him from Mexico. The velvet jacket bordered with silver, +the knee-breeches and the gay silk stockings, the red net for the hair, +and whatever else belonged to the complete equipment of a Spanish +dandy, became him excellently; and though in his present mood he had no +thoughts of attempting any conquests, he was, nevertheless, glad that +he would be able to show himself to his artist friends in a genuine +national costume, and not in any patched-up frippery. + +But, when the night of the ball arrived, it was long before he could +make up his mind to put on this gay dress. He had packed his luggage, +paid his landlady, and made all his preparations for departure. When at +last he stood alone before his glass in his empty room, surrounded only +by his trunks, and proceeded to fasten the net in his hair, he could +not help bursting out into a loud laugh, in spite of his melancholy +mood, at the absurdity of his dancing a fandango on the eve of +launching himself into the uncertain future of a life beyond the sea. +The sound of his voice roused old Homo, who never left him now, from +his usual half-slumberous state. The sober animal started, for a +moment, with an almost disapproving air at the internal and external +transformation that had come over Felix; then he rose slowly from his +place near the stove, walked up to his master, and rubbed his broad +nose against his hand. + +"So even you are amazed, old boy," cried Felix, caressing his faithful +companion, "at my merry spirits? Come, you shall experience a still +greater miracle. I will take you with me; you are the only one of your +race on whom the gates of Paradise are not shut." + +He took up a little black wood guitar, which properly belonged to his +costume, and fastened it with red ribbons on the shaggy back of the +dog, who patiently submitted to the process. Then he called his +landlady, cautioned her not to let him sleep too late the next morning, +as he must take the first train, ordered a carriage, and rolled away, +through the mild winter's night, to the English Garden, over the soft +snow that had already begun to thaw in the warm wind. + +He had to pass by Irene's hotel, and he looked up at her dark windows, +and felt surprised that this parting look brought no tears to his eyes. +Indeed he felt as if he were one who had bidden farewell to life; and +only he who lives can sympathize. The dog slept patiently at his feet. +When the carriage jolted over a stone, the strings of the guitar +sounded, and the sleeping animal growled wonderingly in his dreams. + +It was on the stroke of nine when the carriage drew up before the back +entrance to the little garden of Paradise. The dance was to begin at +seven, but it mattered little to Felix how much of it he missed. Not +until he found himself in the vestibule was he able, by a powerful +exertion, to shake off the depression of his spirits and steel himself +to appear cheerful. He was aided in this resolve by the sound of the +music that issued from the dancing-hall, and more especially by the +aspect of Fridolin, the janitor, who, arrayed in the most ridiculous of +costumes, played the part of warder, and permitted no one to enter who +could not prove to his satisfaction that he was one of the invited +guests. He was posted here in the character of the angel with the +flaming sword, in a white, ruffled robe--with a golden girdle, two +immense wings suspended from his back, a rose behind each ear, and a +flaming wooden sword covered with gold-leaf in his hand. In this +costume he sat behind a little table, on which stood an earthenware +beer-mug, and greeted the late guest with a sly and hearty nod of his +elegantly-dressed head, at the same time showing his long white teeth +and bestowing a self-satisfied look upon his costume. Felix stood at +his side convulsed with laughter and full of admiration at the success +of the disguise. + +Herr Rosenbusch had provided him with this beautiful dress, remarked +the old fellow, evidently much flattered at the notice taken of him. +But how handsomely the Herr Baron was dressed, and how glad he was that +he had brought Homo with him! It was right that such an animal should +know what carnival-time was like. This time it was unusually merry +inside there. Each member had been allowed to invite a friend, and he +in his turn to bring a lady; there were fifty or sixty present, to put +it at the lowest figure. But he enjoyed himself best outside here, for +the beer kept cooler, and he could take a look in from time to time, +especially now when it was probable no one else would come, except a +lady whom Herr Rosenbusch was still expecting. + +Felix completed the paradisiacal mood of the good old man by forcing a +very considerable present into his hand as a parting gift, for he was +not going to visit the studio again. Then he escaped as quickly as +possible from his thanks, and entered the large central hall of +"Paradise," where the dancing was going on, the regular meeting-room +having been transformed on this occasion into a supper-room. + +It took him some time before he could separate the different groups and +distinguish his friends, in the general whirl and confusion. Looking +over the heads of the dancers, he saw half a dozen strange creatures +mounted on a raised platform--gigantic tree-toads, a brown salamander, +and a bat, who, playing upon two or three fiddles, a clarionet, a horn, +and a bass-viol, composed the orchestra. Some of these amphibious +beings, overpowered by the heat, had taken off their heads and fastened +them on their backs, thus presenting a still more fantastic appearance +by the contrast between their bearded, flushed, and very prosaic human +faces and their reptile skins. This feature of the ball was also the +work of the battle-painter, who, having little trouble in arranging his +own costume, had been indefatigable in helping the others by deed and +word. He now approached Felix, skillfully winding his way through the +dancing couples, drew forth a snuff-box and a blue-checked handkerchief +from his brown cowl, and murmured several Latin sentences of welcome +and blessing; and not until he had played his _role_ for some time +longer did he gravely shake hands with his laughing friend, and +reproach him for coming too late. + +Felix had no time to excuse himself, for a tall Englishman, who +was just dancing by with a blonde-haired Suabian girl, stopped +suddenly, led his partner out of the dance, and advanced upon our +friend--Elfinger, with Angelica. Then followed another welcome, another +examination of the costumes, and much laughter and admiration. +Angelica, in her pretty national costume, and standing by the side of +the ridiculous caricature that Elfinger carried out with unswerving +dignity, appeared to very great advantage, especially now when the +excitement of dancing caused her eyes to sparkle and her cheeks to +glow. Rosenbusch told them how much trouble he had had in persuading +her to wear this dress, for she had obstinately persisted in coming as +a Dachau peasant-girl, and making a scarecrow of her figure. She was +guilty, unfortunately, of the weakness of not wishing to be conceited, +which all women ought to be, according to the wise decree of +Providence; and to stand aloof in this way from an hereditary sin was +really one of the worst sorts of coquetry, and should be consigned to +eternal punishment by holy men like himself. + +To this the good soul replied in a tone of mock anger, defended herself +bravely against his ecclesiastical arrogance, and refused to listen to +the sermons of any other sect but her own. She gave Felix a most hearty +welcome, but with a certain sly smile, as if she knew of some +particular masquerade joke that was in preparation for him; and then +took him by the hand and led him to Jansen and Julie, who were the +handsomest couple at the ball--"so far, at all events," she added, with +the same mysterious expression as before. + +In order to reach the two, they were obliged to work their way through +the whole length of the hall, and were often delayed by the whirl of +the dancers. So Felix had plenty of time to examine the company. He +recognized but few of them in their costumes. A stout Arab, with a dark +face and wearing a white burnoose, approached him, bowed low with his +hands on his breast, and then withdrew after this dumb greeting to take +possession of a chair at the lower end of the hall. It was only when he +saw the way in which he comfortably settled himself in it that Felix +recognized him. But just as he was on the point of going after Rossel, +a young Greek, gorgeously dressed in full armor, attracted his +attention. He and his partner, a beautiful girl, were dancing madly in +and out among the waltzing couples, yet without creating the slightest +confusion. + +"Stephanopulos!" whispered Felix. "Do you know his partner?" Angelica +shrugged her shoulders, and apparently preferred to leave the question +unanswered. There was no lack of pretty girls, and, although they +belonged to the most different social ranks, they all bore themselves +with the like respectability, and, with all their freedom, with natural +good taste. The young architect stepped up to say good-evening to him. +He wore a becoming Flemish costume, and his companion, who was not +exactly pretty, but looked sensible and modest, was dressed as a +mediaeval burgher's daughter, with a large coif and ruffles about the +neck. Then the couple danced a graceful provincial dance to the +_Laendler_ that the band was playing, waltzing round and round in the +same spot, or separating in fantastic figures to approach each other +again and take each other by the finger-tips. + +Kohle also danced, but entirely by himself, in an exceedingly comical +costume, for he represented St. Dionysius, who was accustomed to carry +his decapitated head under his arm. For this purpose he had rigged up +an immense cabbage-head, had painted it and hung it round with long +horse-hairs, while his own head was ingeniously encircled by a huge +aureole, from which there hung a golden fringe covering his face, so +that, from a distance, this yellow, dazzling disk seemed to rest +immediately on the neck. This figure, half ghastly, half droll, slowly +swung itself about among the whirling couples, to the sound of the +music, occasionally going through with a little extemporaneous +buffoonery, especially with the Capuchin, who evinced a deep respect +for the holy man, which he expressed by incessantly offering him his +snuffbox, and by mating frantic efforts to kiss the head of the martyr. + +"Where is Schnetz?" asked Felix. Angelica appeared not to have heard +the question; for just at this moment they arrived at the side of the +hall where the windows were, and where several spectators were sitting, +among them Jansen and his betrothed. "Isn't she adorable?" whispered +Angelica, as she led her companion close up to the couple, who welcomed +him with a joyful exclamation. Indeed, it would have been impossible to +see anything more magnificent than this beautiful blonde girl, dressed +in the rich folds of a dark-red velvet dress, with puffed and slashed +sleeves, her beautiful neck bare, and wearing no other ornament than a +delicate Venetian chain; her blonde hair, slightly curled, flowing +freely over her shoulders, and set off by a few dark flowers. It seemed +to Felix, also, that he had never seen her in her real beauty before +to-day, and the sweetness of her expression completed the charm. Jansen +stood at her side in his dark suit, not less full of dignity and +character, but looking only like a courtier standing by the side of his +princess. They had neither of them danced, for he did not care for it, +and she did not like to fly through the hall with any one else. They at +once offered him a seat by their side, for Elfinger had once more taken +possession of his Suabian maid, and began a pleasant conversation, in +the course of which he could not help noticing that Julie now and then +threw in some playful allusion and smiled slyly, while they were +talking about the most ordinary things, just as Angelica had done +before. He dropped a word or two about his approaching departure, which +they did not seem to hear at all. + +"Have you seen the lieutenant yet?" asked Julie, suddenly. "You ought +to look him up, he has been wandering about the whole room in search of +you. If I remember rightly he just went into the next room, possibly to +console himself with a glass of wine for his ill success in finding +you." + +She smiled and laid one of her beautiful hands in that of her +betrothed, while with the other she played with her black fan. + +Felix rose. A restless curiosity seized upon him. + +"Sha'n't we go into that sanctum, too?" he said. "We might sit down +together at one of the little tables, and have some supper." + +"Perhaps you will find better company," she replied, turning away from +him. "We are a couple of tiresome old lovers, and you are a young +Spanish lion who has not yet found his lioness. Go alone; we will +follow quite soon enough." + +She nodded to him pleasantly, again with a peculiar expression. He left +them, shaking his head, and wound his way through the maze of dancers, +to the real hall of Paradise. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + +He was just crossing the threshold when a well-known voice struck his +ear, proceeding from the corner where the little wine cask lay, covered +up by green oleander bushes. "_Buenas tardes, Senor Don Felix!_ You +come rather late, but not too late to prevent you from dancing yourself +tired. I have the honor to introduce you to one of my countrywomen, a +genuine Gitana. Senorita ----." + +But Felix had long ceased to hear what he said. Before him +stood--Irene. + +She looked marvelously charming as she stood there, her picturesque +shawls and draperies thrown loosely about her, her hair ornamented with +a heavy string of corals and gold coins, large silver rings in her +ears, and her eyebrows slightly darkened and joined together over her +proud little nose by a delicate line! And how her cheeks glowed at this +sudden meeting with him whom, after all, she had expected, and for +whose sake she had thus adorned herself; how she cast down her +eyes--and breathed hard--and tried to smile, and yet had enough to do +to keep back the tears that were welling up behind her eyelashes! + +For a minute or two Schnetz stood gazing with delight at this most +charming of all pantomimes. Then he came to the assistance of the +embarrassed couple. + +"You are not altogether unacquainted with each other," said he, in his +driest manner. "Senorita Gitana has to thank this noble Andalusian for +saving her life from the tempestuous waves of the lake of Starnberg. He +will now steer her quite as safely through the dangers of a waltz, +better, most certainly, than your humble servant, whose strut might +possibly strike her as rather too Spanish. So at it, youngster! pluck +up courage and lead the Gitanilla to the dance. After that she will +show you how to read your future from your hand." + +Felix recovered himself by a violent effort. "Shall we dance?" +stammered he, in a scarcely audible voice, as he stepped up to Irene. + +She nodded assent, and the glow on her face burned hotter, but she +spoke not a word, and did not even raise her eyes. She seemed to him so +utterly transformed that, even now, when he felt her hand resting on +his arm, and saw her gliding along at his side, he was almost inclined +to doubt again whether it could really be she. He had never seen her so +yielding, so tremblingly timid, so incapable of uttering a word; and +now when he held her close and swung her in the dance, he felt more +than once as if he were whirling about in one of those strangely happy +dreams that change, in some curious way, the most familiar features, +and lead us only into the arms of the unattainable. + +Yet, all the while he felt so wonderfully happy that he was content to +leave everything just as it was, and strove only to clasp this miracle +as closely as possible to his breast, and to enjoy the full blessedness +of this meeting as long as the dream would last. Nor did she try to +resist; indeed, she herself felt as if it were a necessity for her +to press her head and glowing face close to his shoulder, and, with +half-closed eyes, to submit herself absolutely to his guidance. He +could not see her face, for she held her head bent down; but his eyes +rested on her soft, brown hair, and his arm, clasped about her waist, +could feel how her heart was beating. No word came from the lips of +either of these two happy beings; they did not even press one another's +hands in silent sympathy, for the simple reason that both felt that +there was nothing special for them to communicate--two souls had merely +become one again. Nor did they take heed of those about them, who gazed +with earnest interest upon this noble couple the moment they entered +the room--the strangers with simple pleasure, or perhaps here and there +with envy, the initiated with heart-felt joy at the triumphant success +of their work. + +For them there was no outside world at this moment, no friends or +strangers. Besides the beating of their own hearts they felt nothing +but the music; and it seemed to them a heavenly kindness on the part of +fortune, that allowed them to dance instead of forcing them to talk +with one another; that the wild and merry tones of the instruments gave +them wings that lifted them above the earth, the one clasped as tightly +to the other as only the dance could have made permissible before so +many witnesses. + +Neither of them felt the slightest fatigue, or thought of stopping to +rest. Indeed, when the music finally came to an end, it seemed to them +as if they had just begun; and they stood in the middle of the hall, +startled, and almost painfully still, clasped in one another's embrace +as they had been in the waltz. His arm reluctantly released her figure, +but he could not bring himself to give up her little slender hand. +However, this did not appear to attract any attention, since the other +couples also were very tender with one another, and had quite enough to +do in looking after their own affairs. + +None of their intimate friends crossed their path. So the _majo_ +succeeded in leading his gypsy unchallenged into the adjoining room, +from which even Schnetz had taken care to steal away. + +They walked arm-in-arm, vigorously fanning themselves, down the +flower-decked side of the hall, past the little tables, and stood +suddenly, before they suspected it, before the buffet, which had been +put up at the other end, and before which a number of waiter-girls were +selling cold viands, cake, ice, and various kinds of drinks. + +"Will you drink something?" he said. + +It was the first word he had addressed to her. It struck him as being +very stupid that he had nothing more important to say to her after such +a long silence. But she did not appear to think it strange at all. + +She shook her head quite seriously, drew off her glove, and took a +large orange from one of the plates. "That is better after dancing," +she said, in a low voice. "Come, let us eat it together." + +They seated themselves at one of the small tables, and she drew off the +other glove and began to peel and divide the beautiful fruit with her +white little fingers. But all the while she never looked at him. + +"Irene!" he whispered--"is it really possible? You are here--I--we are +so unexpectedly brought together again." + +"Not unexpectedly," replied she, in a still lower tone; "I knew that +you would come--and that is the only reason why I came myself. Do you +believe I cared anything for the dancing and the masks? Feeling as I +did--" + +Her voice failed her. The tears rose to her eyes. He bent down close to +her, and pressed his lips to the little hands that were so busily at +work. + +She gave a slight start. "Oh! don't, please!" she whispered, +pleadingly. "Not here, they can see us. O Felix! is it really true? You +are going away--away forever?" + +He did not answer for a moment, but sat absorbed in the happiness of +being so near her, of listening to her voice, of feeling her warm +breath as it came from her sweet lips. A reckless joy took possession +of his heart, an exhilarating determination to face boldly whatever +fate might have in store for him. + +"Why talk of such sad things?" said he at length--for she still kept +her anxious gaze fixed upon him, and seemed unable to understand the +joy that lit up his face--"there will be time enough for that later on, +when the ball is over and the intoxication gone, and the harsh daylight +shines once more upon our lives. This is my first happy evening for +many months; I thank you for giving it to me. I always knew that you +loved me, and if I were only a different man from what I unfortunately +am--" + +"O Felix!" she pleaded, looking him full in the face. "You grieve me; +it is not kind of you to shame me so, for I suffered so much before I +could bring myself to admit my fault and see myself as you must have +seen me for a long time past. O Felix! that you could love me in spite +of all--that you could grieve for me--but wait! I have a thousand +things to tell you--I must tell you them to-night--at once--but not +here among all these merry people--and look there, I see some of your +friends coming--only tell me how and where--" + +He had no time to answer, for at this moment Jansen approached, with +Julie hanging on his arm, both with faces that made no attempt to +conceal the part that they had taken in bringing about this great +happiness. They refrained, however, from making any remarks that might +embarrass the young couple, and simply invited them to be their +_vis-a-vis_ in a quadrille that was just going to begin. A pressure of +the hand from Jansen was all that passed between the two friends in +regard to the event. But Jansen and Julie helped to eat the oranges +that were divided into sections and passed about by Irene; then, +separating into couples again, they entered the hall, where the other +couples had already taken their places. + +However, they were by no means sorry to be left alone, and they got up +a quadrille of their own in one of the corners near the windows, with +Schnetz and Angelica and the Capuchin and the headless martyr for side +couples. + +And indeed these eight figures were well calculated to afford an +inexhaustible fund of amusement for one another, and the novelty of the +contrast between the two beautiful and the two grotesque couples +attracted around them all those outsiders who, for one reason or +another, had not taken part in the dance. Nothing could have been finer +or more pleasing than when this blonde, blooming Venetian figure, +in the fullness of its ripe beauty, advanced to meet this slim, +foreign-looking, dazzling gypsy, and the hands of the two charming +creatures met, and their eyes beamed upon one another. On the other +hand, it was one of the funniest and most picturesque sights imaginable +when gaunt Alba bore down with his stiff, spidery walk upon the holy +martyr, while the Capuchin paid homage to the Suabian maiden in all +kinds of cringing and fawning attitudes. The latter seemed to be the +happiest one in the whole company at the success of the plan, +concerning which Schnetz had given her a hint some time before. She was +perpetually making mistakes in the different figures of the quadrille, +for she was always studying either the Spanish or the Venetian girl, +and was, moreover, obliged to communicate to her partner her +observations in regard to their particular fine points. She afterward +found a still more attentive listener in Rossel, who had seated himself +near by in the character of a spectator, holding Homo between his +knees, and now and then sweeping with a careless hand the strings of +the guitar that the faithful old animal still bore upon his back. + +When the dance ended, Julie, whose heart was glowing with gladness and +love, could not refrain from taking Irene to her arms and imprinting on +her lips the congratulation she did not dare to put in words. Irene +understood her, and blushed; but she returned the embrace with hearty +good-will, and nodded also to Angelica as if she were an old friend. +Then she took Felix's arm, and allowed him to escort her to the +supper-room. + +"Shall we take a seat at the little table again?" she asked. + +He shook his head. + +"I must be still more alone with you," he said. "Only be brave and +follow me. The air here begins to be oppressive." + +"Where are you going to?" + +"Outside. Not a breath of wind is stirring, and it is the most +beautiful spring-like weather. And you are not heated at all! I will +wrap you up in my cloak. Take my word for it, we will not even catch a +cold in the head." + +"Go out into the dark garden?" She involuntarily slackened her step. +"What will they think of us?" + +"That we love one another, my darling, and want to be alone. Besides, +it will occur to very few of these good people to miss us, or to make +any remarks about the subject. And since you have once ventured into +this bad society, and no one knows what may happen to-morrow, and +whether there will still be time then--" + +"You are right," she interrupted hastily. "It was merely the last sign +of the stupid old habit. Come; I think myself I should not be alive +to-morrow if the night passed without my having told you everything." + +He drew her close to his side, and they left the hall together. The +angel with the flaming sword had fallen asleep over his mug of beer; +but as Felix had been the last to arrive, he easily found his hat and +cloak in the dressing-room without Fridolin's assistance. He carefully +wrapped a large woolen shawl, which he recognized as belonging to +Angelica, about the head and shoulders of his sweetheart, and then +threw his own cloak over the whole, so that she would have been well +protected even for a colder night. + +"But don't cover up your face entirely; I must have a chance to find +your lips!" he whispered, and immediately kissed her as if to put her +to the test. But she held him tight, and with a passionate submission, +of which he had hardly believed her capable, returned his kiss and held +up her glowing face to his, submitting to his stormy caresses in happy +confusion, and returning them anew. + +Not until she was startled by a noise did she ask him in a pleading +voice to desist. Then he put his arm about her and went out with her +into the mild winter's night, covered peacefully in its snowy mantle. +No star looked down from heaven, but it seemed to these two happy +beings, wandering all alone among the trees, as if the world about them +were in flames, and they were walking through it unscathed, for in +their hearts there raged a hotter fire. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + +In the mean time the ball went on, notwithstanding the absence of this +happy couple, and no one seemed to miss anything. But the later it grew +the more impatiently did the eyes of the red-bearded Capuchin wander +toward the door through which he was expecting the angel of Paradise to +enter and announce that a guest in a cowl was standing outside the door +and waiting for admission. He racked his brains in the vain effort to +imagine what could possibly have detained his lady, who, only a short +time before, had expressed such a strong desire to be present at the +masquerade; and when it struck eleven, and nothing had appeared, he +secretly gave up the affair as lost. As he had made up his mind that +the mysterious stranger would in the end reveal herself in all her +beauty, and afford him an opportunity to celebrate a great triumph, he +naturally felt very much put out at finding that he had been playing a +fool's part, and he slunk about as embarrassed and wretched as a wet +sparrow. + +But his distress proved useless, after all. The intermission that +preceded the cotillon had begun, and every one had streamed into the +supper-room to eat and drink, when Fridolin, entering the hall with his +flaming sword under his arm, nodded to him mysteriously, and whispered +that there was some one outside who wished to speak with him. The monk +rushed into the hall with most unclerical haste, and was not +disappointed. She whom he expected stood before him. + +She acknowledged his welcome, but in such a formal tone that he found a +good deal of difficulty in stammering out some gallant reproaches for +her late arrival. Her chief anxiety seemed to be that her disguise was +not sufficient to prevent her from being recognized. When he had +somewhat relieved her fears on this score and had, as an additional +precaution, arranged her white eyebrows and beard so that they should +cover a little more of the delicate face, she asked why no music could +be heard from the hall. He explained to her the reason of the pause, +and wanted to escort her in without further ceremony. But she insisted +upon waiting until the dance should begin again, and begged him to +leave her and rejoin the company until that time. + +His chivalrous heart would not consent to this, so he staid outside +with the beautiful unknown, who had taken possession of the chair at +Fridolin's table, and who answered in monosyllables to his neat +speeches and appeared to be in a strange state of excitement, and +entirely absorbed in her own thoughts. + +At length, the first sound of the fiddle inside gave the signal for his +release; but not until the trembling of the floor made it apparent that +the couples had once more begun the dance, did the muffled figure rise +and seize the arm of her companion. Rosenbusch felt that she trembled +slightly; he could not imagine what should make her, but he was already +too much abashed by her reserve to rally her upon her strange timidity. + +The fact that the friar had suddenly associated himself with a +colleague did not at first make the sensation he had expected. Then, +when the attention of one person after another was drawn to the pair of +monks, there was no doubt in the mind of any one as to the identity of +the smaller friar, who betrayed the woman both in manner and carriage. +The love affair of the battle-painter was too well known not to make +every one suspect that the thick white beard, and the bushy eyebrows, +concealed the features of the fair Nanny. The fact of her coming so +late confirmed this supposition. She had been obliged to wait until her +parents were asleep, so that she might steal to the ball undetected. +They all wished her hearty joy of her stolen pleasure, and were only +surprised--since no one doubted her fondness for dancing--that she did +not at once join her companion in a waltz, instead of drawing her cowl +still lower over her eyes and walking slowly past the different groups, +examining the costumes with a searching glance. + +In this fashion the couple had already passed down the whole length of +the hall, when this puzzling woman suddenly stood still and dropped her +companion's arm. Her movement was so violent that Rosenbusch gazed at +her in amazement. He saw that her eyes were fixed intently upon the +seats near the window, where Jansen and Julie, and some of the others +who did not care to dance, had again taken their places. But the dance +had just come to an end, and those who had been seated had risen in +order to mingle with the crowd. The blue eyes under the white eyebrows +followed them eagerly, and seemed to take no notice of anything else +that passed around them. So much so, at all events, that the efforts of +the tall Englishman, who wished the decapitated martyr to introduce him +to the new monk, might just as well have been addressed to a statue. + +"What is the matter, madame?" whispered Rosenbusch. "You have grown +very pale; I can see that notwithstanding your cowl. I will lead you to +the chairs--you must rest a moment. That noble Venetian over there is +my friend Jansen, a splendid sculptor, and the beautiful woman on his +arm--" + +But she was not listening. Without taking his arm again, she had +stepped forward to the empty seat and sunk into a chair. + +Rosenbusch stood before her in great embarrassment. He knew less and +less what to make of this extraordinary creature. + +He was just thinking that he would try and give a humorous turn to the +affair, by reminding her that she was in Paradise and not in a convent, +when he saw her leap up as if she were set on springs. + +She had been frightened by the sound of a deep, angry growl. She +turned, trembling from head to foot, and beheld the old dog, who had +been sleeping behind the chair, as his custom was, but who now raised +himself up, and, wagging his shaggy tail back and forth, fixed a pair +of glowing eyes upon the guest. + +"Take me away!--take me away!" she whispered to Rosenbusch, and seized +his arm. "That furious beast--don't you see how he glares at me? Good +Heavens, how frightened I am!" + +"Don't be at all alarmed, dear madame; it is only old Homo. Here, in +Paradise, where the lion lies down by the lamb--" + +She clung convulsively to his sleeve, and drew him away from the +windows. But it really did seem as though the strange old animal, who +paid no attention whatever to the other figures, took a particular +interest in the Capuchin's double. + +He followed the couple with stately, dignified step, no matter in which +direction they turned, shaking his big ears from time to time and +emitting that hoarse growl which, with him, was always a sign of +violent excitement. + +"For God's sake, free me from this monster!" cried the frightened +woman, in a choking voice. "I have an unconquerable horror of all dogs, +even when they are gentle. And this one--unless you put him out you +will force me to leave the hall." + +"Down, Homo!--down, old boy!" said the battle-painter, looking round +for Jansen with growing embarrassment, for he did not dare to turn out +this old and honored guest of Paradise upon his own responsibility. But +the animal seemed no longer to recognize the voice of his friend and +house-mate. As Rosenbusch put out his hand in order to take him by the +collar and gently conduct him out, a howl burst from his throat, so +fierce and threatening, that every one standing near started back in +alarm. The familiar sound reached Jansen's ear also. + +"What's the matter with the old fellow?" he said, listening. "I must go +and see," and with these words he turned away from Julie, who, with +Angelica, was just on the point of going in search of the young couple +whose disappearance they had at last begun to notice. + +The music, which had just begun again, broke off suddenly, for a second +howl was heard through the room. + +At this moment Jansen reached the group that had gathered about the +dog, and called him by name. The animal obediently turned his head +toward his master; but, when his victim tried to take advantage of this +movement to slip away quickly in the crowd, the dog gave forth a still +more angry growl, leaped with a powerful spring after the retreating +figure, and caught the end of the gown in his teeth. + +"Back, Homo! Come here--back!" cried Jansen, in a voice of command. + +But the animal continued to keep his hold. A low cry came from beneath +the cowl, and the little hand which was carefully held before the face +trembled violently, while the other struggled to tear loose the gown. +At this moment, Stephanopulos forced his way through the stupefied +crowd of spectators. With a quick movement he seized the furious animal +by the throat, with the intention of forcing it back. The dog's teeth +let go the gown, but, though a wild howl came from his powerful throat +and his eyes turned with a furious glare upon the bold intruder, he +succeeded in laying his heavy forepaws on the cord that answered for a +girdle, and with such violence that the muffled figure staggered and +fell upon the floor. The animal at once laid one of his paws upon the +prostrate figure, and, with a loud bark of triumph and violently +lashing his tail back and forth, stood by the side of his prey, with an +aspect so horrible that even Jansen recoiled from him. + +True, it was not this sudden outbreak of fury in his old companion that +made him stagger back and stare in horror at the prostrate figure. In +her confusion and alarm the stranger had let her cowl fall back, her +white beard drop off, and for a few seconds they saw a woman's pale +face looking out from the disguise long enough for it to be recognized +by Jansen and the young Greek at his side. + +"Are you crazy?" cried the latter, excited still more by the sudden +discovery. "Why do you stand there like a statue? Drag off this mad +beast before an accident happens, or by all the devils--" + +Jansen did not move. His face was ashy pale; they could see his teeth +clinched tightly behind his parted lips. All around was breathless +stillness, broken only by the heavy breathing of the dog. + +"Then we must help ourselves as best we can!" cried Stephanopulos. "To +hell with this devil's brute!" + +Quick as a flash he unsheathed a long dagger that was stuck in his +belt, and before any one could interfere he had driven the sharp steel +down the wide-opened throat of the old animal. + +A frightful howl, stifled the next moment by a stream of blood, and +then the powerful animal fell back, and, with a dull rattling in the +throat, dropped dead beside the woman in the cowl. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + +All this time the two lovers outside in the garden, absorbed in their +happiness, and covered warm with Felix's broad Spanish cloak, had heard +nothing of the gathering storm within-doors, and had not noticed that +the clouds had begun to dissolve in a fine rain. But in a little while +the wind began to rise, shaking the soft snow from the branches, and +driving the cold drops of rain into their faces. + +Even then Irene expressed no desire to be taken back into the house. +She would have liked to wander by his side forever, through rain and +storm. But he, careful of her health, laughingly insisted upon +"bringing his little lamb under cover." "We must take care not to catch +cold," he said. "There are certain times when a cold stands very much +in the way of lovers. Come, my darling! I feel as if I should like to +dance all night long with you. Good Heavens! what work we shall have in +making up for lost time!" + +She hung on his arm in full submission. But at this moment they heard +the dying howl of the old animal, horribly breaking in upon the +stillness of the night. + +"What is that?" said Felix. "That sounds altogether too serious for any +masquerading joke. In the tropics I was used to such nocturnal voices, +and slept quietly in spite of them. But here, under this wintry sky--" + +He hurried her toward the house. Then they saw a back-door suddenly +thrown open, and two muffled figures rush out hastily and run toward a +carriage that was standing waiting in the side-street, about thirty +steps from the house, just as on the night when the burning picture +disappeared. + +They could distinguish nothing but the outline of a monk's cowl. + +"Rosenbusch!" cried Felix. + +But this call merely had the effect of causing the fleeing persons to +redouble their speed. The next moment they reached the carriage, and +something white gleamed in the darkness, which Felix's keen eye thought +it recognized as the fustanella of the young Greek; then the door +was slammed-to, and the carriage rolled off into the darkness at a +break-neck pace. + +The pair gazed after it in amazement. + +"What can it mean?" cried Irene. + +Felix said nothing, but shook his head and hurried her on toward the +door. They found Fridolin at his post, but with eyes that glared so +from fright and sudden awakening that they did not stop to ask him any +questions, but, throwing off their wet wraps, hastened into the hall. + +Here a most startling sight greeted their view. + +Jansen was crouched motionless on the floor, holding on his knee the +bloody head of the dog, his gaze fixed on the stiff, outstretched limbs +of his old friend, whose convulsive twitching marked the last pulsation +of his ebbing blood. + +Julie was kneeling at his side, taking no heed of her yellow skirts, +that were spotted with large stains from the dark pool. Their friends +were standing about them, completely stupefied; and even the musicians +crept down from the platform, in their grotesque animal costumes, and +mixed in among the guests. + +At this moment the gaunt figure of Alba, in the shape of their friend +Schnetz, stepped out of the awe-struck crowd, advanced to the +astonished pair, and, taking them aside, told them all that had passed +while they had been out in the garden, pouring out their hearts to one +another in utter ignorance of what was going on within. In what +connection these puzzling occurrences stood to one another, the +lieutenant did not pretend to know. When they recovered from the first +shock, and looked about for the author of the whole trouble, they +discovered that she had disappeared from the hall with the young Greek. + +Rosenbusch then joined them, and Angelica and Elfinger. The +battle-painter was plunged in a truly pitiable state of despondency at +the tragic end of his adventure. Innocent as he was of it all, he +nevertheless persisted in accusing himself of being the author of the +murderous affair by introducing this mysterious guest. He gave a +detailed account of the way in which he had made her acquaintance, and +asserted again and again that she had done absolutely nothing to +provoke the dog. But let that be as it would, the mischief had been +done; the ball was spoiled, and Jansen had lost his good old comrade. + +Felix listened to all this with clouded brow. Then he pushed his way +through the crowd, and went up to Jansen. The dog had just drawn his +last breath. Jansen sprung to his feet when he felt the hand of his +friend on his shoulder. He drew himself up erect, and then raised Julie +from her knees, but without uttering a word, while his bright eyes, +sunk deep in their sockets, wandered slowly about, as if he were trying +to remember where he was. + +"Have they gone?" he said, after a long pause. + +No one answered. Julie took his hand and spoke gently to him, and he +replied by a vacant smile and a nod. Then, with a violent shudder, he +roused himself, and strode out of the group that had gathered about the +dead animal. He advanced to his friends, and, speaking once more in his +usual voice, requested Schnetz to send for a carriage, as he wished to +take the dead dog home. Then, with few words, but with a manner that +forbade all remonstrances, he entreated them not to be disturbed on his +account, and not to leave the ball. He made even Julie promise this, +and forced himself to speak quite as usual. After this he took +Rosenbusch aside, and conversed with him in a low voice for a +considerable time, never lifting his eyes from the floor; finally he +shook hands with him, and left the room. + +Julie and Felix accompanied him out to the carriage, in which the body +of the dog had been already laid. He got in with evident difficulty, +and gave the two at parting a hand that was as cold as ice. He did all +this as if he were still enveloped in some dream, from which even the +presence and sympathy of those most dear to him could not arouse him. + +Fridolin had mounted on the box by the side of the driver, and in this +fashion they pursued their long drive through the cold, rainy night, +and drew up in front of the studio just as the clock was striking +twelve. The driver lent them his assistance in lifting the heavy body +of the dog out of the carriage, and carrying him in. They laid him down +in the little garden behind the house, and, with shovel and pickaxe, +dug a deep grave, into which they lowered the huge animal. The driver +had gone on his way again, and Jansen stood motionless on the brink of +the grave, gazing down on the dark mass that they were leaving there to +crumble into dust. But Fridolin took the two artificial roses which had +belonged to his angel's dress, and which he still wore behind his ears, +and cast them down upon the dead animal. + +"It is winter," he said, "and a dark night; and we have nothing +fresher. But go and get some sleep, Herr Professor. I will put his bed +in order with my spade. And though he was only an animal, perhaps after +all we shall see him again at the resurrection; and if there should be +a heaven for dogs, Herr Professor, he will go there sooner than many a +priest. And why? Because he knew what friendship and kindness meant; +and that is what nine men out of ten don't know; and he never treated a +poor fellow-man like a dog, which can't be said of everybody. I don't +think the good God will object if I offer up a few paternosters for the +poor dog's soul." + +Jansen nodded in silence, and turned away. Then he went into the house, +and stepped into his studio. It was cold as ice in the large room; the +wind roared down the chimney, and rattled in the iron stove. Yet for +all that the unhappy man could not make up his mind to go back to his +lodgings. He threw himself upon the low sofa and spread his cloak over +his benumbed limbs. So he lay there perfectly still, and listened to +the falling of the rain and the noise made by the spade. His eyes were +shut. But for all that he never ceased to see, in the darkness of his +own heart, a pale face, only too well known, from which the mask had +just fallen, and which, despite its frightened, supplicating look, +stared up at him like the head of Medusa. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + +When he started up, late in the morning, after a short sleep, and saw +the snow drifting sadly down outside the window, the face at once rose +up before him again; and the frightened look of those blue eyes, that +he had hoped never to see more, and that now came to begin anew their +designs upon his happiness, made him shudder even more than the harsh +breath of the winter morning. And yet at first he had difficulty in +believing that it had really happened. It was only from his great +exhaustion that he realized what a storm he had passed through. + +He was surprised himself at the stolid, torpid, icy calmness with which +he was able to look back on the frightful scene, as if the apparition +of the night, that yesterday made his hair stand on end, had no power +over him in broad daylight. He thought about the loss of his faithful +old companion too, as something that had happened long ago. But he was +pained by the thought that he had let the faithful animal be buried in +his masquerade trappings, with the gaudy ribbons and the guitar on his +back. He even went so far as to seriously deliberate whether he should +not have the grave opened again and cleared of all the tawdry finery. +However, he put it off until evening; and when evening came he had much +more pressing matters to attend to. + +He was firmly resolved to put an end to this condition of affairs; to +tear the ever-rankling and festering barb from out the wound, let it +cost what it might. How this could best be done he did not know as yet. +But upon one point his mind was definitely made up; he owed it to Julie +to render a repetition of such scenes impossible. + +He left the studio and went into the city. He directed his steps to the +hotel where the Russian countess was staying. To his amazement, he +learned there that no one had ever heard of this Madame St.-Aubain, +which was the name Rosenbusch had given him the preceding evening. The +porter did, indeed, remember a person such as Jansen described; the +lady spent the whole day with the countess no later than yesterday. But +she was not stopping in the hotel, and he had not learned what her name +was. + +He would speak about it to the countess herself: could he see her for a +moment? asked the sculptor. + +The porter looked at his watch. It was only nine o'clock; He had orders +to admit no one before eleven. + +So there was nothing left for him but to be patient, hard as it was. + +Wandering about without any definite plan, his heart led him to where +Julie lived. But, the moment he saw the house in the distance, he +turned back. It was impossible for him to look her in the face again +until he could say to her: "It is all over; you have nothing more to +fear from my past; the spectre has been sent back among the dead." + +He went into the Pinakothek, where at this time of the year and day the +large, unheated halls stand empty. He stretched himself on the sofa +that stands in the centre of the immense room, and looked over the +walls with half closed eyes. The power and warmth of life of these +noble pictures acted, without his knowing it, upon his spirits, and his +mood continued to grow quieter and more gentle, until at last he fell +fast asleep, his hat pushed down so low over his eyes that the +attendants and the few visitors took him for an exceedingly studious +painter, who made use of his hat-brim to protect him from the +reflection of the light from above. + +He had to make up for the sleep he had lost in the night; thus three, +four hours went by without his waking. At length one of the attendants, +to whom the matter began to look rather odd, stepped up and discovered +who it was. However, he had altogether too much respect for the artist +to disturb his sleep before the time came for closing the gallery. +Jansen sprang to his feet, asked what time it was, and was startled to +find how many hours he had lost. He left the gallery in great haste, +and hurried to the hotel. + +The countess was too unwell to receive any visits today, the porter +told him. + +Jansen shrugged his shoulders, growled out a few unintelligible words, +and began to mount the stairs without paying any further heed to this +answer. Up-stairs he received a similar reply from the countess's maid, +who met him in the corridor. + +"Take this card to the countess. I regret to disturb her, but it is +absolutely necessary that I speak with her." + +The girl took the card, acted as though the name which she read on it +was perfectly unknown to her, and then remarked: + +"Just at this moment it is really quite impossible for the countess to +receive you. The doctor is with her and is renewing the bandages. That +always gives her such pain that she is forced to lie perfectly still +for two or three hours after the operation, unless she would have +convulsions. Perhaps, if you would be good enough to call again toward +evening--" + +Jansen gave the tricky girl a look that confused even her brazen face. + +"I am convinced, my good girl, that you are lying to me in the most +cold-blooded manner possible; the doctor is not with your mistress, nor +does she need repose. I have a great mind to thrust you aside and +quietly make my way in for myself. But, in order that your mistress may +be convinced that I am entirely courteous, I will act as though I +really believed you, and call again in a few hours. But then--" and he +raised his voice a little, in case there should be any one behind the +door, listening to the conversation--"then I shall expect that the +nerves of the countess will have nothing to say against my requesting a +ten minutes' interview. It is now two o'clock. At four I shall take the +liberty of knocking again at this door." + +"Perhaps it is just as well," he said, as he went down the stairs. "I +have eaten nothing since yesterday evening. An empty stomach goes badly +with diplomatic negotiations. And I want to keep as cool as possible." + +He stepped into a restaurant, hurriedly took a little food, and +hastened to get out into the street again. He felt better out in the +cold air than anywhere else; he sauntered slowly along, like a +promenader in the most beautiful spring weather, baring his head to the +storm and letting the flakes of snow fall upon his hair and forehead, +so that the people whom he met turned to look after him. As he had a +long time to wait before the appointed hour would arrive, he wandered +through the town, and at last, by roundabout ways, came back once more +to his atelier. Fridolin reported that Miss Julie had been there twice +in person, and the second time had written something. The lieutenant +and the other gentlemen had also been there to see him, and the baron +made him take him to the grave and tell him the whole story. Herr +Rosenbusch was the only one who had not yet appeared, and Fraeulein +Angelica had only shown herself a moment, just to water her flowers, +and had gone away again. However, he had made a fire in the studio, and +it was warm in among the saints also, although the assistants had taken +a holiday on their own account. + +Had the professor--for so he obstinately persisted in calling +Jansen--any further orders to give? + +Jansen shook his head and entered his workshop. He found Julie's note. +She begged him, in Italian, which they had been studying together for +some months, to release her from the agonizing uncertainty in regard to +his mood and in regard to what he intended to do. She was only going +out to make a visit to Irene, and then she would stay at home and +expect him. The note closed with a few loving words and another +earnest request for him to come to her that evening, all of which did +him unspeakable good. + +But he remained firm in his determination not to go to her until he had +cleared up the whole matter. + +He sat down on the sofa and had just begun to draw up a small table, in +order to write her a few comforting lines, when a quick knock on the +door interrupted him. + +He was startled to see Frances's nurse come in. This little woman, who +had a houseful of children and a head full of cares, seldom visited +him--and never without her little charge. + +Her black eyes, usually so cheery, began to spy anxiously about in +every corner of the studio, the moment she had entered it. + +"Is your child here?" she stammered breathlessly. + +"With me? No. What made you think so?" + +He stepped up to her hastily. "What is the matter, my good woman? Did +you send little Frances here?" + +"Not here! Oh! Heavens!--but perhaps she may be up-stairs with Fraeulein +Angelica--without your knowing about it. I will go right up--" + +"Fraeulein Angelica is not up-stairs; I am all alone in the house. Tell +me, for God's sake--" + +He stopped suddenly; a horrible suspicion paralyzed his tongue. + +The exhausted woman sank down on the pedestal of the great group, and +wiped her eyes. + +"The child--?" he asked at length, with great difficulty. + +She looked up at him with supplicating eyes. + +"Don't kill me! I don't know where it is--some one has taken it +away--my anxiety drove me here--I have done all I can!--" + +She seemed to expect nothing less than that he would strike her dead +after hearing this confession. + +But, as he stood motionless, she mustered up courage to tell him, in a +disconnected way, what had happened. She had gone into the city after +dinner, and her old mother had, as usual, taken charge of the children. +Immediately after she went out--as if she had only been waiting for +that--a strange lady had come to the house. + +"Young, with blue eyes?" interrupted the sculptor, with difficulty +unclinching his teeth. + +No. An elderly lady, not far from fifty, dressed in black and heavily +veiled. She asked for Frances, and said she was to bring her to +Fraeulein Julie, only for half an hour. It was a surprise they were +preparing for the father, she said; Fraeulein Angelica was going to make +a sketch of the child; a drosky was waiting outside the door, and she +asked the good grandmamma to put on the child's little cloak, but not +to make any other change in its dress. The old woman, as soon as her +deafness allowed her to catch the meaning of this story, had thought it +rather strange, at first; but the explanation given by the stranger +that Fraeulein Angelica was prevented from coming and getting the child +herself, by a slight cold she had caught on the evening before, had +quieted her again. Besides, the child would be brought back in a couple +of hours; Fraeulein Julie would bring it home herself. As the stranger +seemed to be so well acquainted with all the people and circumstances +of which she spoke, the old woman could offer no reasonable objection. +But the stranger had scarcely left the house when she was filled with +an unaccountable anxiety, and had impatiently awaited her daughter's +return. + +She, however, had been detained in the city longer than she had +expected by a number of errands; and, when she finally did return and +found that the child had not been brought back, she immediately set out +in the greatest anxiety to look for it. But she found no trace either +at Julie's (who was herself absent, the old servant Erich said, for she +had not come back to her dinner at the usual time), or at Angelica's +house. At the latter place they told her that the artist had not gone +out until about noon, for she had risen very late; besides, she had +found the weather too dark for working. Her last faint hope had been +that the child would be found at her father's--and here, too, there was +no trace of her! + +The woman's eyes filled with tears while telling him the story. She had +slipped down from the pedestal and now lay, weeping bitterly, at the +feet of the silent man, as if she would disarm his anger by this humble +posture. + +"Calm yourself!" she heard him say at last. "You are innocent in the +whole affair. Believe me; the child is not lost--oh, no! it is in +excellent hands. Can a child be safer anywhere than with the mother who +bore it?" + +The weeping woman raised herself and looked at him inquiringly. + +"Yes, yes!" he repeated, laughing bitterly. "You have never been told +about that, my good friend; it was very thoughtless of me not to have +spoken to you about it the very first thing this morning. My wife has +made her appearance again; she gave me a specimen of her acting last +night--a benefit performance in Paradise--a short scene, but very +effective. And now this is the second act. That the third, in which I +am to play too, will be the last, you may be very sure." + +"She is here, she has the child, and you know where she is to be +found?" + +"Not yet. However, I know some one who knows all about it, whom I think +I can talk into giving me the necessary information. By-the-way, it +must be about the time--almost four o'clock; let us go!" + +"Go alone, unless you have particular need of me. My knees can hardly +bear me. The anxiety--Oh! let me rest here just for a few moments." + +"I'll order a drosky. You mustn't think of walking back such a long +distance. We will ride part of the way together." + +He called the janitor and sent him out for a carriage. Then he paced +with long strides up and down the studio in profound silence, while the +woman sank back into a chair, and struggled hard to compose herself. + +In the midst of this painful stillness, they all at once heard the +voice of the battle-painter in the entry. + +He and Felix came in together, and his unsteady step, pale face, and +disheveled aspect, showed plainly enough that the horrors of the +preceding night were still fresh in his memory. He greeted Jansen with +a most depressed mien, and the jokes that he tried to make sounded +anything but cheerful. He would not have shown himself in such a +wretched condition had he not happened to fall in with something that +might possibly be of importance to Jansen. + +An hour ago he had crept into the open air for the first time that day, +his head still heavy from the wine that he had dolefully poured down +his throat the night before, in the hope of drowning his dismay at that +murderous tragedy with poor old Homo. As he did not want to meet any of +his acquaintances, he took the road that leads out through the gates, +visiting, among other places, the cemetery, and feeling quite in a mood +to seek a resting-place there himself. + +On his return, as he was passing the Sendling gate, he saw a traveling +carriage, loaded down with trunks, roll out and turn into the country +high-road. + +This struck him as being rather a peculiar proceeding at this time of +year and in this century of railways; and for that reason he looked +pretty closely at the equipage as it drove by. To his great amazement +he recognized in one of the ladies, who was just bending forward a +little, the stranger of the night before, the mysterious Madame de +St.-Aubain, while sitting opposite her on the back seat was no less a +person than that Greek Don Juan, Monsieur Stephanopulos. They were +talking earnestly with one another, and did not notice him. The lady +looked devilish pretty, her face being set off very coquettishly by a +black spangled baschlik, and her blue eyes-- + +"Why, what's the matter with you, Jansen?" he cried, breaking off in +alarm, for he saw his friend suddenly grow pale. "I thought I was +telling you pleasant news, in reporting that this fatal person, and the +murderer of poor Homo, were taking themselves out of your sight--" + +"Did you see a child with them?" cried the sculptor, almost beside +himself, and turning fiercely upon the innocent narrator. + +"A child? It is possible there was a child in the carriage. At least I +saw all sorts of wrappings and shawls lying on the other two seats. +But, for heaven's sake, my friend--" + +"Good! Thank you. I know enough. An hour ago, you say? And on the +Sendling post-road? Good! Excuse me, my good woman--I--I must be off. +But I must be prepared for all emergencies." + +He rushed up to the old wardrobe in the corner, tore open the door with +trembling hands, and drew out an old-fashioned pistol, covered with +dust and rust. + +At this moment he felt Felix's hand on his shoulder. + +"What is it?" he said, without turning round. + +"Of course I am going with you," said his friend, in a suppressed +voice. "As matters stand, I think I know pretty well what the trouble +is. What I don't yet know, you can explain to me on the road; but I can +never let you start alone on this sad hunt; and, as my blood is cooler +than yours, you must let me be the leader. They chose the highway +because the telegraph would have cut them off if they had gone by rail, +and they have not got much of a start yet. For this reason, I think +there can be no doubt but what we shall overtake them if we take +horses. Come! The drosky that Fridolin has just ordered will take us in +ten minutes to the stable where I hire my horses. Then we will ride by +my lodgings, and, if you insist upon it, I will put my revolver in my +pocket. That old horse-pistol wouldn't inspire Herr Stephanopulos with +any great respect. Do you agree to this, old boy?" + +"Let me follow in the carriage," pleaded the little woman. "I shall die +of anxiety unless I do, and who knows but what I can be of good service +to you. The poor child, and among strange people too, may be made sick +by the fright and the cold drive--" + +Felix quieted her as well as he could, and his firm, determined bearing +had so good an effect that Rosenbusch also promised to keep perfectly +quiet until their return, and not alarm either Julie or Angelica by +saying anything about the matter. Then Felix pushed his friend, who +submitted to his guidance like a child, out of the room, stopped a +moment on the stairs to write a word of excuse to Irene, who was +expecting him that evening, and then, getting into the drosky, he +ordered the driver to drive as fast as possible. Half an hour later the +two friends, mounted on fast horses, were spurring along the highroad +that runs from the Sendling gate across the broad Isar plain into the +mountains beyond. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + +The mist of evening hung over the still country. The heavy snow-clouds, +piled into huge heaps by the winds, drifted slowly across the dreary +sky, now and then letting fall a stray flake. To the right and left of +the road, whose deep ruts were filled with a half-frozen slush, the +trees stretched up to heaven their black and dripping branches, on +which even the crows refused to alight. + +In this dismal wintry desert, where, far and wide, no human being could +be seen, where no dog barked at the horses, the words seemed to freeze +on the lips of the two horsemen. Jansen had informed Felix only of +those facts which were positively essential to a knowledge of the case; +of his determination to make an end of the affair, and his belief that +the abduction of the child was either to be used as a means of +extorting some concessions from him, or else that it was a mere trick +on the part of the mother to let him feel her power, and to present +herself to the world in the character of an abused wife, who sought by +this desperate deed to recover a right of which she had long been +deprived. + +Felix had but little to say in reply. + +"Perhaps it is better, after all, that the matter should be brought to +a crisis," he thought to himself. "Who knows how long it would have +dragged on if he had always been obliged to negotiate from a distance. +If he only keeps cool and puts forth all his energy, he will probably +effect more now, when it is likely that her conscience troubles her in +regard to the farce of yesterday, than he could otherwise have hoped +for." + +Whereupon he put spurs to his horse, and, in spite of the interest with +which his friend's fate inspired him, relapsed into his own thoughts. +He had been with Irene for a few hours that morning. The feeling that +he brought away with him from those happy hours, the certainty that +henceforth his way was clear before him, took complete possession of +him, and made him unsusceptible to all the dreariness of this strange +ride. In addition to this he was filled with joy at being able to help +his friend at such a moment, as well as at being a witness of the +favorable change which he believed was about to take place in Jansen's +lot. Absorbed in these thoughts, he caught himself whistling a merry +tune, and beating time to it with his riding-whip; but, seeing that +Jansen suddenly spurred on his horse and rode past him, he broke off, +urged his own animal to greater speed, and, after overtaking his friend +again, rode along at a sharp trot by the side of his brooding +companion. + +Upon reaching the next village--where, notwithstanding the early hour, +everybody seemed to have gone to bed--they drew up before the tavern, +and made inquiries concerning a traveling-carriage that they thought +must have passed by the place. The few peasants who were in the guests' +room, playing cards with the landlord, came out to the door, and gave +it as their opinion that, at this time of year, no other carriage than +the doctor's or the priest's one-horse chaise would show itself in +those parts. They stood shaking their heads, and looking after the +retiring horsemen, as they again dashed forward. + +"We shall overtake them in Grossheselohe, at the railway bridge," said +Felix. "They can't cross there with the carriage, and will wait for the +express train, so as to go on early to-morrow morning. They _must_ have +passed, unless Rosenbusch was dreaming. These people in the tavern are +so befogged with beer and schnapps, that it is very probable they +didn't hear the wheels." + +They reached the village of Grossheselohe as one of the church clocks +was striking six. A rather lively company was assembled in the village +ale-house. The waiter-girl, who stepped to the door upon hearing the +approaching sound of horses' hoofs, knew nothing of any carriage +bringing strangers from the city. But a drunken hostler, who came +staggering out of one of the stalls, muttered some unintelligible words +and pointed to the road leading into the wood, though he could not be +induced to give any more distinct information. + +"Forward!" cried Felix. "We have no other choice, and I know the road +through the wood. Undoubtedly, Stephanopulos is also very well +acquainted with the country about here. This region was the classic +site of the May festivals that the artists used to give. Take my word +for it, we shall find our fugitives in the next village." + +He urged on his horse, but the heavy darkness now forced them to +moderate their speed. Riding at a walk, they plunged into the blackness +of the little wood which fringes the high bank of the Isar, and which, +in summertime, is the goal of so many weary city-folk. Now, it was so +gloomy that even Felix felt a cold shudder pass through his very bones. +Down in the deep ravines the water roared, and the wind sighed +mournfully through the bare tree-tops. Jansen's animal shied and +reared, but his rider sat in the saddle like the stone Commendatore; he +had hardly spoken a word for an hour. + +Suddenly Felix reined in his horse. "Do you see there?" said he, in a +suppressed voice. "I'll wager we have them. It's high time. My horse +has gone lame in its right fore-foot." + +Across a cleared patch in the wood they saw the village which the +artists had used as a rallying-point in the picnics of which Felix +had spoken. A house, with a rather high roof, stood out like a +silhouette against the gray sky, showing, in its second story, a +row of brightly-lighted windows. + +"Unless they happen to be celebrating a wedding here, other guests must +be in those rooms," said Felix. "Let's ride nearer, and cut across this +field; although there's not much fear that they could escape us now, +even if we should besiege their hiding-place from the open road." + +The horses, giving a low neigh--for they scented a crib of +oats--stamped through the slippery mud, and drew up before the fence +that separated the inn court-yard from the street. + +"We are right," whispered Felix, who stood up in his stirrups in +order to look over the fence. "The carriage is standing there in the +yard--two people are busy unloading the trunks--the fellow holding the +lantern is probably the coachman. Now for it, in God's name!" + +He swung himself from his horse, and stepped up to his friend to help +him out of the saddle. "Come," he said, patting the streaming horse on +the neck. "Whatever you are going to do, do it quickly. You will +probably find the whole company together, up-stairs; and, while you are +doing what is right up there, I will see to our horses and follow in +five minutes. Or do you want me to go up with you at once?" + +A deep sigh, the first sign of life that the silent man had yet given, +was the only answer. He seemed to have considerable difficulty in +getting out of the stirrups, as if his limbs were frozen fast to the +saddle. Then he stood for a few moments in a deep reverie, and seemed +to be struggling to get the better of a strong aversion, before he +could bring himself to enter the house. Felix accompanied him as far as +the door. + +"Remember to keep down that Berserker blood of yours!" he whispered to +him. + +Jansen nodded, and pressed his hand as if to ratify the vow. Then he +stood still again, raised his hat to wipe his forehead, and then strode +quickly across the threshold. + +Felix gazed after him with a feeling of painful sympathy. He would much +rather have undertaken this difficult mission in his friend's stead. +But he knew him too well to dare even to propose such a thing. + +So he led the two horses by the bridles, pushed open the gate, and +entered the court. + +The hostlers, who were busied about the traveling-carriage, rose up and +stared in amazement when they heard the sound of horses' hoofs, and saw +this young stranger coolly approaching them. + +"Good-evening!" he said. "I suppose you still have room in your stable +and a few dry blankets. These beasts are as wet as if they had just +been drawn out of the water." + +No answer. The coachman turned the lantern full in the face of the +new-comer, and shrugged his shoulders. + +"You'll be no losers for taking good care of my animals," continued +Felix. "In the mean time, I think I can find the stable-door for +myself." + +Without further parley he took the lantern from the coachman's +hand--who, in his confusion, was at a loss how to bear himself toward +this distinguished-looking gentleman--and proceeded to light his horses +to the manger. + +At this moment he heard a voice calling across the court, urging the +people who were unpacking the carriage to make haste. The owner of this +voice stepped out of the back-door; and, seeing the people standing +there idle, he marched quickly up to the spot with the intention of +giving them a sound rating. Before he could utter a word, however, he +started back in confusion--for Felix had also stood still, and raised +his lantern so that his figure could be distinctly seen. + +Stephanopulos, bare-headed and wrapped in a shawl, stood before him, +presenting an appearance that was anything but imposing. However, +observing the sarcastic mien of the young baron, he soon succeeded in +recovering--outwardly, at least--his usual presence of mind. + +"You here!" he cried. "What an unexpected meeting! Really, if I hadn't +seen it with my own eyes--" + +"_Bon soir, mon cher!_ Can I get quarters here, too?" interrupted +Felix. "Yes, you are right; it is I in person. And, for that matter, +though you are surprised to see me here in weather like this, which can +hardly be said to offer any great inducements for making country +excursions, it is really no more surprising than that I should find +_you_. We Northerners are accustomed to winter campaigns. But for one +who grew up at the foot of the Parthenon--" + +"Are you--alone, or--is some one else--" stammered the unfortunate man. + +"Only a good friend of mine, who chanced to have business here, and who +will also be rejoiced to see you. Really now, without compliments, we +hardly had a right to expect this agreeable meeting so near the city. +Where are you going to, sir?" he suddenly raised his voice. "Back into +the house? I must earnestly request you to favor me with your company +for a short time outside here. Your sense of delicacy ought to teach +you that the business which occupies my friend within-doors there will +bear no witnesses but those most nearly concerned, and however much you +appear to consider yourself as one of the family--" + +"Let me alone!" cried the youth, in whose dark eyes an evil light began +to gleam. "Why do you stand in my way? What right have you to concern +yourself with my affairs?" + +"My dear sir," said Felix, dropping the horses' bridles and stepping +close up to Stephanopulos, "before all things, don't scream so loud. In +your own interest, I advise you not to be too grandiloquent about this +affair. The person who is most directly concerned in it might resent +any remonstrance on your part less politely than I do. If you care at +all to get out of this ridiculous scrape in as respectable a manner as +possible--" + +"Take care!" cried the other. "You insult me! You shall give me +satisfaction for thinking me capable of such a piece of infamy! What! +desert an unfortunate woman, who has trusted herself to my protection, +in the presence of a man who has always abused her, and has sworn to +kill her if she ever comes into his sight again! Let me alone, I tell +you! I will--I must go back to the house! I must stand by her--I +must--" + +"It is very magnanimous of you to want to," interrupted Felix, coldly, +as he seized the other's arm with an iron grip. "But, in the mean +while, I will take care that you don't. I would propose to you to take +a walk in the neighboring wood, in order to cool off your hot blood a +little, until the husband has settled matters with his wife. If you +should interfere with him, I'm very much afraid he would shoot you +without taking any more time for reflection than you did yesterday when +you put an end to the poor dog. But I am sorry for you, my good fellow. +And for that reason, and also to preserve you for art and for further +adventures--" + +While saying these words he had been forcing Stephanopulos toward the +side where the stable was. There was a door standing open, apparently +leading up-stairs to the hay-loft. + +"In here!" he said, imperiously, suddenly letting go of the youth's arm +and sending him stumbling over the threshold. + +The Greek curse that rose to his lips was stifled by the furious +passion which blazed up in him. + +"Help! help!" he shrieked, beside himself with maddening rage. + +But Felix shut the door upon him, quickly turned the key in the lock, +and went back to the horses. The prisoner could be heard raging on the +other side of the door; a moment afterward his face appeared at the +little barred window. A blow of his fist shivered the pane. + +"If you don't open on the instant, you scoundrel--you blackguard--" + +"I repeat my good advice," said Felix, stepping up close to the window. +"Behave yourself quietly and yield to force, unless you want to make +your position worse than it is already. What I have just done is for +your own good, and your imprisonment will hardly last longer than half +an hour. Afterward, of course, I will afford you all so-called +satisfaction, with pleasure--as soon my time will allow me." + +He lifted his hat a little, stuck the key in his pocket, and resumed +his hold of the horses' bridles. + +The coachman and the stable-boys, who had looked on at this singular +scene in open-mouthed surprise, were so taken aback by his manner, +that, without attempting to make any effort in behalf of the prisoner, +they officiously hastened to lend assistance in leading the horses into +the barn. Felix gave a few directions about how they were to be +treated, and threw a thaler to each of the men. Then he took the +lantern in his hand again, gave orders that no one should follow him, +and strode across the yard to join his friend. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + +While this violent and yet almost ridiculous scene was enacted in the +court, Jansen had been mounting the dark stairs with a heavy foot and a +heavier breath. No sound of a human being was heard in the house; only +the roaring and crackling of the open fire in the kitchen below. Half +way up the stairs he stood still and listened; it seemed to him as if +he heard the voice of his child. But it was only the ringing in his +ears, as the blood seemed to surge and boil in his veins. + +"She will be asleep by this time," he said to himself. "So much the +better! She won't hear then what I have to say to her mother." + +He trembled all over. And yet he had no fear of this meeting, that was +to be the last. He was afraid of himself, of the dark, violent spirit +that made him clinch his fists and gnash his teeth. "Be quiet!" he said +to himself, "be quiet! She is not worth such fury!" + +He hastened up the last few steps and found himself in a long, dark +corridor. At one end a thin ray of light made its way through a +keyhole, and a broader gleam shone through the crack between the door +and the bent and warping threshold. + +"It must be there!" he said. He took off his hat, and passed his +hand through his wet hair. "Let us make an end of it!" said he, +unconsciously repeating over and over again the words "an end!--an +end--an end!" + +Then he stood before the door and listened. A voice which he did not +recognize was speaking; he stooped down and peeped in through the +keyhole. His eye lighted directly upon the face of an elderly woman who +was talking earnestly, but perfectly quietly. He recognized the old +singer, his wife's mother, whom he had always disliked even at the time +of his maddest infatuation. She sat in a corner of the sofa, and drank +now and then, in the short pauses she made, from a little silver cup +that stood by the side of a traveling-flask. At the same time she broke +up a biscuit and put the pieces in her mouth with an affected movement +of the hand, all the while displaying her false teeth to advantage. +Near her, sunk back in an arm-chair, lay her daughter; she was dressed +entirely in black, which became her white skin and deep blue eyes +charmingly. She was playing with a pair of scissors, making them flash +in the candle-light, and looked as wearied and indifferent to all about +her, as though she had just come home from the theatre where she been +acting in some tiresome piece with only tolerable success. + +Suddenly she sprang up with a loud shriek. The door had opened +noiselessly; and, instead of the young companion whom she had expected +to see enter, the very man stood before her, from whom she had fled to +this obscure hiding-place. + +The words died on her lips; even the old actress, who was not +ordinarily easily disconcerted, sat as if she were petrified; and only +her fingers, still convulsively crumbling up the biscuits, seemed to be +alive. + +"Leave the room; I have something to say to my wife!" Jansen said to +her in a low voice and without violence. "Do you hear what I say? Go +away this instant! but through this door, by which I entered." + +He wanted to prevent her from taking the child with her, for he took it +for granted that it had been put to bed in the adjoining room. + +The women exchanged a quick look. These few moments sufficed to restore +the younger one to self-possession. + +"You must not leave me," she said. "In whatever I am to hear--since I +am conscious of my innocence--I need shun no witnesses, least of all my +own mother." + +And as she spoke she sank back again into the chair, and passed her +hand across her eyes, as though overcome by painful memories. The old +woman on the sofa did not move. They could only hear how she murmured +softly to herself: "Good God! Good God! What a scene! What a +catastrophe!" + +"I repeat my demand!" the sculptor said with emphasis. "Will you wait +for me to take your arm and lead you out?" + +"Very good; I will go; I will not let matters be brought to the worst," +cried the mother, rising with a pathetic gesture. Then she bent down +over Lucie and whispered something in her ear. "No, no," hastily +answered the latter, "not a word to him. That would only make the +matter worse. Go, if it must be so. I am not afraid!" + +She spoke the last words aloud and facing toward Jansen, whom she +looked straight in the eyes without a trace of terror. Any stranger +would have been deceived by this air of conscious innocence. + +The old singer slammed the door behind her. They heard her, as she +passed down the corridor. But it did not escape Jansen's ears that she +crept back and remained standing outside the door to listen. + +"Let her stay, for what I care!" he said to himself, "as long as I +needn't see her face." Then came again the feverish: "We must make an +end--an end--an end!" He took his stand before the stove, in which the +remains of a fire still glowed. With folded arms he stood gazing down +upon the woman who had been the curse of his life. In the midst of his +terrible anguish it flashed across him that not a feature of her face +gave evidence of the seven years that had passed since they had been +separated. She even appeared younger, more girlish and more +unsophisticated than when he had first known her. Nothing could be read +on those soft lips or on that clear forehead but a sort of curiosity, +an innocent wonder as to what was coming. Her soft, quiet hand had +taken up the scissors again, and was playfully opening and shutting +them. + +An almost unbearable thought, a crushing sense of shame suddenly rose +within him, as he realized that this mask had once deceived him; had +excited him to mad passion, and had flattered him into reposing in it +an undying faith--this smooth lie, this cold smile, that did not desert +her even now, when he whom she had so bitterly injured had to put forth +all his strength in order to pass through this hour manfully. + +"I am here," said he at length, "to--to make an end of this. I hope you +will not make it more difficult for me than is necessary. I will not +ask you the reasons that have led you to act against our agreement, and +to cross my path again. You have a fondness for masquerading, and I +must let you indulge it as much as you like; all the more as I, for my +part, give you up utterly. I merely wish to warn you that if you ever +again feel a desire to approach me in any kind of disguise, take care +not to lose the mask. I could not bear to see your face again, and my +hot blood might play me false." + +She bent her eyes upon him with a perfectly unembarrassed look, as if +asking whether he was really serious when he said these words--whether +he really could not bear the sight of this gentle face. + +"Have no fear," she answered, softly, in an almost bashful tone. "I am +not coming again. I have seen all that I wanted to see. It was +certainly a pardonable curiosity that made me want to see what kind of +a face one must have to find favor in your eyes; and if I--" + +"Silence!" he interrupted, imperiously. "You shall hear me to the +end--to the very end. If, as I hope, you are not unmindful of your own +interests, and will listen to reason, our last interview will end +peacefully, and I will give you my thanks for having brought it about. +I will then take my child away with me, and promise you that I will try +hard to think of you without anger." + +"The child?" + +"The child that you have just stolen, that you wished to keep with you +in pawn, that you might carry out Heaven knows what miserable scheme." + +"You are very much mistaken," she interposed, and a slight blush +mounted to her cheeks. "The child is not here." + +"Don't attempt to deceive me!" he cried, with sudden fury. "I know you +have kidnapped the child--it is asleep in the next room--you fled to +this place to conceal your capture from me; to-morrow, early, you +intended to continue the flight." + +"You are raving again!" she said calmly, and laid the scissors down on +the table. "Look yourself, and see whether the child is here with me. +There stands the lamp; search the house, if you do not believe me." + +He stretched out his hand mechanically, took the light, and opened the +door of the adjoining chamber. The beds that stood there were empty. + +With a threatening look he turned upon her. + +"Shall I search the house room by room?" he asked, his voice trembling +with anger. + +"It would be useless trouble. I swear to you, I did not bring the child +with me." + +"Trickster!" he cried, setting the light down on the table with such +force that the flame was almost extinguished. "Only this once the +truth--only this once! Where is the child? What have you done with her? +In whose hands--" + +"In the best of hands," she interrupted, "under the very safest +protection, so help me God! I--it is true--I had an irresistible +longing to see my poor child once more, whom you have made motherless +and to whom you wish to give a mother who can have no heart for the +orphan. If it is a crime for the real mother not to wish to see her +child given to the false one, then I have committed such a crime. I +wanted to steal it for myself, to be a thief of that which is my own, +purchased with pain and lost with pain; but it happened differently--I +was not to have it, in punishment for not having defended my rights +more boldly. Oh! and this cruel, pitiless man, who has robbed me of +everything, even of this last short, desperate consolation--" + +Her voice appeared to fail her. She covered her face with her white +hands, and was silent. But the time when she might have deceived him +was past. + +"Where is the child?" he asked, after a short pause, stepping close up +to her. + +She did not remove her hands from before her eyes. + +"I sent it back to you. I saw that the innocent creature had been +brought up in hatred toward her mother, and that I could not hope to +win her young heart back to me again. What I felt--but enough! What do +you care for my sorrows? I pressed the child to my breast for the last +time, and then let her go from me forever. When you get home, you will +find her there. This is the truth. And if I had to die this moment I +could not say anything else." + +She drew herself up at these words; her eyes glistened with moisture, +her features assumed an expression of anxious emotion, and her gestures +were hasty and ungraceful. + +"Well?" she queried. "Are you not yet satisfied? Have I something still +that your hate begrudges me, that you would like to tear from me? Take +it--take all I have--take even my miserable life, that you have spared +me until now, for I see what you are aiming at when you say you want to +put an end to this. Yes, an end to my woes, to my disappointed hopes, +to my happiness and my honor--an end to this wretched creature, that +wanders through the world like a leaf torn from a tree, finding rest +nowhere--nowhere until it sinks into the mud and rots there." + +She threw herself on the sofa, and burst into a flood of tears. + +He knew these tears. He knew that she possessed the art of moving +herself in order to move others. But still he felt a deep pity for this +unhappy nature, which could not even in its truest grief weep truly. + +"Lucie," he said--it was the first time he had addressed her by her +name--"you are quite right, you are unhappy and I am partly to blame +for it. I ought to have been a wiser man, and never to have thought of +making you my wife. We are of different blood; you are in your element +when you are pretending to be something you are not. I--but why talk +about it? We know it all--we ought to have known it then; it would have +spared us much bitterness. And now, Lucie, you see I am not unjust; I +share the blame between us, just as I have borne my good half of the +misfortune. But shall it go on this way and make both of us wretched +all our lives? I have written all this to you. Why didn't you read my +letters better? We should now understand one another, and should be +able to conclude what still remains to be done in a more friendly +spirit." + +"Your letters?" she said, suddenly drawing herself up and drying her +tears. "I read them only too well. I know that in and between the lines +there was but one thought: 'I will be free!--free at any price!' I +knew, too, who it was who dictated this thought to you; and now, since +I have made the personal acquaintance of this incomparable woman--no, +without sarcasm, which would be but childish defiance for one in my +situation--I understand perfectly that you would be willing to do +anything in order that you might throw yourself into such chains. But +to suppose that I, with my share of our common misfortune, as you call +it, will voluntarily step back and look on while you find happiness +according to your heart's desire--oh! you are excellent egotists, you +men!--but you should not be so _naive_ as to think it a crime if we, +too, sometimes think a little about ourselves!" + +His old aversion arose again as he listened to this well-calculated, +passionate speech. But he forced himself to be quiet. + +"I have never tried to conceal from you," said he, "that I am now more +desirous than ever before for an absolute separation, because I wish to +enter into a new marriage. If you thought it was for your interest to +hinder this, if you wished to prevent me from ever again becoming a +happy man, then this would be comprehensible on your part, although it +would betray but little pride. But you ought to know me better. You +ought to know that I am terribly in earnest when I say my submission to +the fate that binds us together is at an end. I can--I _shall_ never +consent to let the malicious defiance of a woman cheat myself and her +whom I love of our happiness in life. I am determined to do _anything_ +which can set me free. Do you hear it? To do _anything_. And for that +reason I say to you: name your price! I know very well that your desire +to feel that I am in your power, and the triumph of seeing me drag a +piece of the chain after me is dear to you. But even dearer things have +their price. Name yours; I will buy off your hate and your malice, +though to do it I had to work like a day-laborer from morning until +late into the night." + +"I don't imagine that will be necessary. Your sweetheart is rich, I +hear. But you are mistaken. I am not covetous. Give me the child, and I +will never have known the father." + +"Woman!" he cried, his whole being lashed into fury by the trick which +he immediately detected--"You are--" + +But he controlled himself. He sank down a chair near the sofa, and +said, in a tone as if he were communicating something of the greatest +indifference to her: + +"Very good. You remain untouched by words or prayers. But let me tell +you: I am as determined to set myself free as you can possibly be to +keep me forever in a state of wretched bondage. If you will consent to +a legal separation, you shall never have occasion to complain of me. I +will double what I have done for you heretofore; yes--I will guarantee +that you shall not lose this part enjoyment of my income even by any +second marriage you may be disposed to enter into. You smile and +pretend to be incredulous. Let us play an honest game. You are young +and beautiful; though I doubt whether you will ever find a man to whom +your heart will go forth. You may easily find a man who will seduce +your senses, and whose position will attract you, and then our account +would be at an end. If you resist this just compromise--" + +She looked at him again with all her childish innocence, with that +smiling curiosity as though they had to do with a scene in a farce. + +"Well--and then?" she asked. + +"Then I will take every means in my power to ruin your life as you have +ruined mine. I will pursue you with my hate, no matter whither you may +flee, and dog your steps, do what you will to hinder! I know how you +live, and that you have neglected no chance to console yourself for the +loss of a husband. I have cast you out of my heart so entirely that I +did not feel the least shade of sorrow when you threw yourself away +upon whomsoever pleased you. But that shall be otherwise now. I will +put a spy on your track, whose only duty shall be to watch you every +step and movement, and to furnish me what I have hitherto lacked: +_proofs_ that you are trampling my honor as well as my happiness under +foot. Then I will openly step before the world and tear the mask from +your smooth face. Then I will--" + +"You would do better to spare yourself the trouble," she interrupted, +coldly. "Since you are so good as to warn me, you will easily +understand that, even admitting I should feel any desire to be +indiscreet, I should take care to guard myself against spies. So you +would only throw away your money without gaining anything by it. For +such weak proof of my guilt toward you as a glove, that very likely the +doctor left lying in my chamber, and that an intelligent dog--_a +propos_! I am really sorry that I was the innocent cause of the loss of +your friend, though that keen judge of human nature did show as +unconquerable an aversion toward me as his master. Some other end would +undoubtedly have been preferred by you. At the same time, little as my +wretched life may be worth to you, and easier as it would be for you to +find a second wife than a second dog--" + +"Woman!" he shrieked, driven furious by her impudent irony in this +terrible hour. "Not another word, or--" + +"Or?" + +She looked at him defiantly, as she rose and folded her arms. + +"Or I will bring the matter to another end than you ever dreamed of, +and the carriage that you brought you here, you she-devil, laughing and +mocking at me with your pretty paramour, shall to-morrow--" + +He raised his fist as if he were about to let it fall like a hammer on +her head. She returned his gaze without moving an eyelash. + +"Murder me, if you have the heart to!" she said, coldly, with her lips +curled in scorn. "The comedy in which a dog has played such a splendid +_role_ would then end most fittingly as a tragedy, which would be +better, at all events, than a wretched reconciliation. As truly as I am +innocent of your madness and fury, so truly do I say that a more +undeserved disgrace was never heaped upon a helpless creature; that +happiness, honor, and future were never more ruthlessly--" + +The door was thrown open. Felix, who had pushed back the listening +woman, thinking that the time had come to prevent an act of violence, +burst into the room and suddenly stood before the speaker. But scarcely +had she cast a look upon him than, with a shrill scream that went +through the very marrow of the men, she sank back, her arms as if +paralyzed by a sudden cramp, her features distorted, and in a state +that bore such unmistakable signs of truth that no thought of its being +some new deception was possible. Before Jansen had had time to collect +himself, the mother rushed in from the corridor and threw herself down +before her insensible daughter, who lay on the sofa with staring, +wide-open eyes, a vacant smile upon her lips, and hands hanging rigidly +at her side with the fingers spread wide apart. + +"You have killed her!" cried the old woman, trying to lift the body, +which had half fallen to the ground, on to the cushions. "Help--save +her--bring water, vinegar--anything you have--Lucie--my poor +Lucie--don't you hear me? It is I! My God! My God! Must it come to +this!" + +"It is a fainting-fit, nothing more!" Jansen's voice now broke in. "She +has had such fits before, especially after great exertion on the stage. +And to-day's scene--" his speech suddenly failed him. He had turned as +he spoke toward Felix, who stood in the middle of the room, his eyes +fixed immovably upon the figure of the insensible woman. It was as if +the lightning-bolt that had struck her had grazed him too. Not a limb +did he move, not a muscle stirred in his face; every drop of blood +seemed to have left his veins. + +"Felix! For God's sake what ails you? What is it? do you hear me, +Felix?" cried Jansen, grasping his arm and pressing it tight. + +Felix made a vain attempt to master himself again. But he could +not withdraw his gaze from the woman, who lay there as if dead. +He merely nodded a few times, as if to give a sign of life, and +heaved a deep sigh. Then he said, bringing out each word separately: +"So--that--is--your wife!" + +"Felix!" cried Jansen, in a tone which betrayed a terrible suspicion. +"Felix--speak--no--say nothing--come out--we--we are in the way here--" + +"So that--is--his wife!" repeated the other, as if talking to himself. +Suddenly he shook himself with a gesture of horror, broke loose from +his friend, and rushed out of the room with such terrible haste +as to cut off all chance for Jansen to detain him. They heard him, +immediately afterward, plunge down the stairs and fling the door to +behind him. + +Jansen hurried to the window and threw it open. "Felix," he shouted +after him--"one word--just a single word!" + +No sound came up from below. Only the wet snow drove in through the +open window, upon the head and breast of this sore-burdened man. He did +not notice it. He leaned against the window-sill to support himself, +and stood for perhaps ten minutes deaf and blind to all that went on +around him. + +The old singer was trying, with continual moaning and laments, to bring +her insensible daughter back to life. She had produced a little flask +of some strong essence from her traveling-bag, and was bathing the +young woman's colorless cheeks and temples with it. Jansen had turned +his eyes upon the group, but he did so as if he took no notice of what +was being done for the lifeless figure. Not until she had made a slight +movement with her hand, that immediately dropped back again upon the +cushion, did he seem to recollect himself. He stepped away from the +window without closing it. + +"Let the cold air come in," he said, in a low voice. "It is the best +way to bring her to herself again. Put some snow on her forehead; she +will open her eyes in a few moments. Tell her, then, that I have left +the house, and--that I shall leave her in peace. Goodnight!" + +Her mother raised herself from her knees and sought to make some reply. +But when she saw his face she was silent, and merely nodded timidly and +servilely to all he said. She saw him go out of the room, and then +hastened again to the aid of her daughter, who was now breathing +heavily. She finally succeeded in raising her into a sitting position, +but the pale head fell back again on the arm of the sofa. Then she ran +to the window and brought a few handfuls of the snow that lay on the +sill outside. At length the insensible woman opened her eyes. + +Her first, half-vacant gaze wandered over the room. After a while she +became thoroughly aroused, and moved her lips. + +"Where is he?" she murmured. + +Just at that moment they heard the hoof-beats of a horse galloping off. + +"Do you hear?" whispered the mother. "He is just riding away. He won't +come again--he told me to wish you good-night, and he would leave you +alone. Oh! these men--Oh! these men! Poor, poor Lucie!" + +The pale woman appeared even now not quite to understand. Her features +were still distorted in fear. She drew her mother nearer, and +whispered: "And the other--was it really he, or was it--his ghost?" + +"What do you mean, child? Are you out of your head? But only keep +quiet--it's to be hoped we shall have a quiet night--oh! my God! What a +scene, what a catastrophe!" + +She seized the cup of wine, and drank it out. Lucie paid no attention +to her. + +A shudder passed over her. She closed her eyes anew. The convulsion +which had seized upon her now lapsed into a violent sobbing, which her +mother, who had seen her before in such a fit, allowed to take its +course without making any attempt to waste further words in +consolation. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + +We must return to the morning of this day, in order to take up the +threads out of which the dark web of these events was spun. + +Julie, after having twice sought in vain for her friend at his studio, +had found it impossible, in the anxious state of her heart, to stay +quietly at home. She went to Irene's, for she had found Angelica, who +had not closed her eyes all night, sunk in a deep sleep. She felt +herself greatly drawn toward the Fraeulein, though she had seen her +yesterday for the first time; all the more as Irene, too, was as little +able as all the others to withstand the charm of Julie's character, and +had attached herself to her with a warmth that appeared doubly great in +contrast to her usual coy reserve. It had not been long, thanks to the +freedom of the masquerade, before they stood on so familiar a footing +as to call each other "Du;" and the startling incident that drove +Jansen away from the ball so early had broken down the last trace of +reserve in the friendship between them. They had remained together for +a few hours longer. Julie, to whom Jansen had disclosed in a single +word the mystery of the strange mask, had made no secret of the matter +to her friends, among whom Irene was now counted. + +She herself, while taking the occurrence greatly to heart, saw at once +how much nearer the final crisis it had brought her. But the thought +that she must leave him to fight out alone the battle that could not be +avoided, was torture to her. + +She wanted at least to be near him, to know every hour what he was +doing, and, if it should be necessary, to be ready to restrain him from +taking any violent steps. His withdrawing from her--although she knew +that he had only done it to spare her--gave her great pain, and she +felt now as if she knew for the first time how much she loved him. + +In this mood she presented herself before Irene, who received her most +tenderly. Felix, who had taken occasion to call as early as possible in +the morning, had just taken his leave again, and the eyes and cheeks of +the girl still glowed with the happiness of their reunion. The two +friends had so much to confide to one another that they did not notice +how the hours slipped by, and were very much surprised when the uncle, +who, as a rule, never appeared before dinner-time, entered the room. +Irene introduced him to Julie, and would not listen to such a thing as +her going home to dinner. + +The baron seconded her in her hospitable entreaties in his usual +chivalrous manner; though he seemed not to be in as good spirits as was +usual when he found himself in the presence of a beautiful lady. During +the meal, also, he was noticeably depressed and preoccupied, keeping +remarkably silent for him, sighing a great deal, and complaining of old +age, which must overtake even the youngest uncles at last. Then again +he would try to laugh, or tell one of his old _bonmots_; but he soon +relapsed anew into a droll kind of melancholy, in which he railed at +the uncertain lot of humanity and the mysteries of an irresponsible +Providence. + +When, after dinner, Irene was called out of the room by a chance caller +whom she hoped quickly to get rid of, and the baron was left alone with +Julie, he suddenly appeared to have gone fairly crazy. He sprang up, +thrust his hands through his thin hair, plucked at his beard, took a +cigar--which he immediately laid down again--and finally drew up his +chair close to the sofa, where Julie was seated. + +"Fraeulein Julie," he said, with a deep sigh, "you will think it +strange, but I can't help myself; will you hear me for ten minutes on a +very serious matter, and then give me your advice and, if possible, +your support?" + +She looked at him in amazement, but nodded kindly. + +"A terribly bad story," he continued; "though, for that matter, a story +that is not without a parallel in this imperfect world of ours, and +one that ought not, by good rights, to break the heart of an old +lion-hunter. But the worst of it is, it so happens that I can turn to +no one for advice and aid, except to a young lady whose delightful +acquaintance I made but an hour ago. Now, my honored Fraeulein, if I +only knew of some married woman, or some respectable elderly lady, in +whom I had confidence--truly, I would spare you and myself the +embarrassment of having to talk to you about the old sins of my youth. +But in all this circle--all bachelors and single women--you will +understand, my dear Fraeulein--" + +"Speak out boldly, Herr Baron; I am thirty-one years old." + +"No, my dear Fraeulein, the baptismal certificate has nothing to do with +this question; and, although I have the greatest respect for you--you +are still far removed from the canonical age of a person inspiring +respect. But I have learned, through my brother-in-arms Schnetz, how +universally you are honored in Bohemia--pardon the expression, I mean +in the so-called society of Paradise--and that it only needs a word +from you to straighten out much more complicated affairs than this of +mine. + +"Perhaps you do not yet know--that is to say, you have undoubtedly +known for a long time--for your talented friends do not generally keep +secrets from one another--in short, I have a daughter--'Have her while +she is mine,' as Polonius says--a daughter, of whose existence I had no +suspicion until recently. Upon the discovery of my fathership I knocked +at my heart, and waited to hear whether the so-called voice of Nature +within would awaken. _Pas le mains du monde._ You will find this +inhuman. But remember that I did not lead a worse life in this good +town than was the fashion at that time, and that this adventure came +half-way to meet me--I wish to throw no shadow either upon the girl or +her parents--_enfin_, they were very cordial with me, and I, in return, +possibly went too far. A few years afterward, I felt something like a +gentle gnawing in my left side, where one is supposed to carry his +conscience. As it did not subside, I wrote to this place in order to +inquire, as a friend of the family, after the health of its different +members. The letter was returned by the post, as the address could not +be found. + +"Now, looked at from a strictly moral point of view, I ought not to +have felt, even after this, that I had justified myself. But what would +you have? My contact with the king of the desert had somewhat hardened +my skin, and the before-mentioned gnawing ceased. The girl had never +been exactly what you would call beautiful, but was very attractive +because of her freshness, her free nature, her merry laughter from a +mouth of magnificent teeth. You know complexions of that kind have +something especially dangerous about them for our weaker sex. To be +brief, she had, in spite of all this, completely passed out of my +memory until I saw her again to-day in her daughter--pardon, in our +daughter, I meant to say." + +"You sought out the girl? And how did the poor child receive you?" + +"As badly as ever a child could receive its long-lost father. You can +imagine, dear Fraeulein, that it was no easy mission for me to fulfill. +A man cuts such a wretched figure in the character of the repentant +father, who, at the very first meeting with his grown-up daughter, is +obliged to beg her pardon for having totally forgotten her. But there +are sour apples into which one would rather bite than let himself be +bitten by his conscience. I assumed a fatherly, venerable mien, and, +when I entered the room where the girl was, and recognized in her her +dead mother--as if the resemblance had been stolen from a mirror--I can +assure you that at last the voice of Nature asserted itself. But +scarcely had I introduced myself, with the necessary delicacy, +to the unsuspecting child as one who had certain sacred, though +long-neglected, rights to her childish affection, when the strange +creature springs up like a little fury, and flies into the adjoining +room. Now I ask you, my dear Fraeulein, is a father who wishes to make +good his faults a monster from whom one ought to run away? I stood +there as if rooted to the spot; and, as soon as I recovered from my +surprise, I did my best to conciliate my daughter through the bolted +door. I spoke the kindest words to her, and promised her anything in +the world if she would only be sensible and let me talk to her; and, +truly, I must have succeeded in the end--the voice of Nature must +finally have awakened even in her young bosom--when suddenly the old +gentleman--my _quasi_ father-in-law--entered the room. Would you +believe it? this white-haired old man, instead of coming to my aid with +the wisdom of a grandfather, suddenly becomes as wild and unreasonable +as a youth, says the most incredible things to my very face, and while +I, out of respect for his gray hairs and lost in astonishment, am at a +loss what to answer, he takes me _sans facon_ by the arm and leads me +to the door, which he slams after me like a clap of thunder." + +The energy with which he had related all this seemed suddenly to have +taken away his breath. He sprang up, threw open the window, and took a +few deep draughts of the cold winter air; then, burying his hands deep +in the pockets of his short coat, he walked slowly back to where Julie +was sitting. + +"You must admit, my dear Fraeulein," he said, "that this brutal +reception was well calculated to silence the voice of Nature once more. +This old--but no! He is right; if I had been in his place, and my +son-in-law had taken twenty years to make up his mind to stammer out +his _peccavi_, I should probably have been even less ceremonious, and +have simply kicked the fellow down-stairs, even if I had done nothing +worse to him. But still, as you can easily imagine, this encounter +rather shattered me." + +He threw himself into the chair again, sighed like a man in utter +desperation, and ran his hands through his hair. + +"And how can I help or advise you, Herr Baron?" asked Julie, after a +pause. "It seems to me there is nothing left for you to do but to write +to Herr Schoepf and to your daughter, and tell them by letter what they +would neither of them listen to in their first excitement." + +"Pardon, my dear Fraeulein, that wouldn't do much good. These two mad +beings would not treat my letters any better than they did their +author. And yet, you will understand that I cannot rest content when my +father-in-law and my daughter have turned me out-of-doors. I must atone +for my old crime so far as such a thing is possible at this late day. +For me, in my years and circumstances, to suddenly long for paternal +joys, to receive this girl into my bachelor's quarters, and to +introduce her to society as a young baroness--I, who have already had +such a hard time with one grown-up daughter, by whom I am forced to let +myself be ordered about--would be the height of the ridiculous: to say +nothing of the fact that I doubt very much whether I should ever be +able to tame this red-maned lioness. But, on the other hand, Father +Schoepf, as he now calls himself, is no longer one of the youngest men +in the world; and, aside from that, by no means a Cr[oe]sus. If the +child stays with him, who knows but what she, too, will fall into bad +hands, like her poor mother? And in case she should remain a good +girl--you know, my dear Fraeulein, that virtue as a sole dowry is not +particularly in demand nowadays. I want, therefore, to secure for my +daughter--whether she acknowledges me or not--a respectable marriage +portion; not merely a dowry--it must be known that Fraeulein Schoepf +possesses in her own right so and so much property. Now, you see, my +dear Fraeulein, only such a soft and winning voice as yours can succeed +in persuading Father Schoepf to consent to such an arrangement, which +is so greatly for the interest of the child. Now, if I should send +Schnetz to him, he would, if he had to deal with a man, fire up about +his ridiculous manly honor, and the end of the story would be that +Schnetz would likewise be shown the door. But you, if you will only +consent--and why shouldn't you consent?--may even succeed in the end in +inspiring this wild creature, my own flesh and blood, with some +human emotion; so that she will feel for her papa, who really is no +monster--but stop! the visit in the next room is over. Not a word of +this to Irene. Promise me this. May I depend on you?" + +He reached her both his hands across the table with such a true-hearted +and, at the same time, comically-crushed manner, that she did not +hesitate for a moment to close the bargain. In a second his mood seemed +to have gone through a complete transformation. He sprang up, bent over +her hand, which he eagerly kissed, and began to hum a tune and to light +a cigar, talking all the while about the masked ball of the night +before. His niece, when she entered again, laughingly asked what magic +charm her beautiful friend had been using in her absence, to dispel so +completely her dear uncle's melancholy mood. + +Julie smiled and answered that people ought not to laugh at the secrets +of magic, and the baron acted as though nothing at all had happened. +Then the two friends took leave of one another. Julie was anxious to +see Jansen again, whom she confidently hoped to find in his studio at +this hour. But on the stairs, to which the baron escorted her, she +whispered to him: + +"Why don't you want to let Irene into the secret? Unless I am very much +mistaken, she already knows the first half; you owe it to her to tell +her the other half, which truly does you honor." + +"Do you think so?" answered the baron. "Irene have a suspicion? Good +God, these young girls nowadays! One takes great credit to one's self +for the profound innocence and ignorance in which one has brought them +up, and they are wiser than we ourselves! Well, then, in Heaven's name! +one sour apple more; my teeth are yet on edge from the first one." + +He kissed Julie's hand once more and returned, sighing, to his niece. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + +Julie went slowly and thoughtfully down the stairs. The moment she was +alone, all in which she had just taken part sank into the background +before the one thought how it fared with her friend, how he had passed +the day, and what might have occurred between him and his wife, who +held his fate in her hands. She reproached herself for having let her +visit detain her so long. It is true he did not generally come until +evening. But what if he had sought her out earlier to-day?--what if he +had had some news to give her, or had needed her advice or consent? A +cold shudder passed over her at the dreadful thought! + +As if to make up for lost time, she hastened down the remaining steps. +But, upon reaching the landing of the first floor, she involuntarily +stopped. A very strange kind of music issued from one of the +neighboring doors. This was Nelida's _salon_; the waiter who had taken +her to Irene had told her so. The piano within, which only skillful +hands were generally allowed to touch, seemed to have fallen into the +hands of a maniac, who cared more for making noise than music, or who +was trying to test the instrument's power of resistance. + +But, rising above all this stormy _charivari_ of the keys, what noise +was that? Did her ears deceive her, or did she really hear a child's +voice that pierced to her very heart? Greatly excited, she advanced a +few steps toward the nearest door; now she heard it more plainly--the +sobbing of a child, that ceased for a moment only to begin again +immediately afterward. Was it possible? Did she know that voice? She +approached her ear to the door and discovered that the crying child +must be in one of the side rooms, to which there was no separate +entrance from the corridor. A few seconds more and the last doubt +vanished. Without taking time for reflection, without knocking, she +opened the door and stepped into the narrow hall between Nelida's +_salon_ and bedroom. + +The doors of both the adjoining rooms stood half open. In the _salon_ +sat Stephanopulos before the piano, improvising like a madman with the +most utter disregard of harmony, for he had been his own teacher on the +piano. He did not notice Julie, but went on abusing the keys. It was +not clear whether he was doing this in order to drown the noise of the +crying, or to divert the distressed child's thoughts. For through the +other door Julie now unmistakably heard the sobbing of little Frances, +and the voice of a woman trying to soothe and comfort her. But before +she had time to enter, an elderly lady, in hat and shawl, appeared on +the threshold. + +"Is it you, Nanette?" cried the old singer. "Is the carriage ready? Are +the trunks strapped on? It's high time. The child--Good God!--what is +this? You here?" + +Julie did not give her time to slam the door and bolt it. She hastily +pushed past the astonished woman, and entered the sleeping-chamber. + +She was received with a cry of fright. Before a table, on which were +piled all sorts of presents, flowers, cakes, and toys, as if for a +birthday celebration, stood the child, a big doll in one arm and a +paper of candy in the other, but weeping as bitterly all the while as +if these presents had been given her as a punishment. A woman, still +young but past her first youth, knelt on the carpet beside her, her +soft face bent down over the curly head of the child, apparently doing +all in her power to quiet the little creature. But now she sprang to +her feet and stared at Julie as if she had been a ghost. + +The countess lay stretched out on a sofa, in the back part of the room, +holding in her hand a newspaper, that fell into her lap when she +suddenly became aware of this unexpected caller, who was now standing +in the middle of the chamber. + +The next moment the child let everything it had in its arms fall on the +carpet, and, uttering a loud cry of joy, rushed into Julie's arms. + +"Have you come at last, my dear, beautiful mamma? What made you come so +late? I was so frightened here all alone! Are we really going now to +Auntie Angelica? Or will you take me to papa?" + +She clung fast to her protectress, who found it hard to quiet her. Her +little face was wet with tears, and she trembled in every limb. + +The countess raised herself upon her couch. + +"To what do I owe this honor, Fraeulein?" she said, in a trembling +voice. + +Julie released herself from the child's arms, and looked the questioner +calmly in the face. + +"I ought to excuse myself, countess," she said, "for coming here +unannounced. However, the manner in which I am received relieves me +from this formal courtesy. In passing by outside I heard a child +crying, and recognized to my amazement and alarm Frances's voice. Her +foster-mother and her father, who evidently do not know where the child +is, will be alarmed about her. Pardon me if I take my leave with as +little formality as I came. Come, Frances, let us go. What have you +done with your hat and little cloak?" + +She had had difficulty in uttering the first words, she was so agitated +by her indignation. But the sound of her own voice gave her back her +self-control. She felt herself, all at once, to be perfectly at ease +and a match for all hostility. + +The piano-playing had suddenly ceased, and in the room itself the +stillness of death ensued, broken only by little Frances, who ran to +the lounge where her wraps were lying. + +The young woman took a step toward Julie. Her face, but slightly +flushed, appeared quite composed, and neither hate nor fear spoke from +her eyes. + +"I must introduce myself to you, Fraeulein," she said, with her soft +voice. "I am Frau Lucie Jansen, the mother of this dear child. From +this you will understand--" + +"Is that true, mamma Julie?" the child interrupted. "Is the woman +really papa's wife, as she says? But papa hasn't any wife; he had one +once, but she is dead this long time, and I haven't any other mother +but my good foster-mother and my beautiful mamma Julie. I don't want to +have any other mother, and I don't want any presents from her--I only +want to go away! You must take me away. I--I--" + +She began to cry again, dropped her little cloak, and running back to +Julie threw her arms round her neck and sobbed bitterly. + +"Be quiet, Frances dear," Julie whispered to her. "We will go away to +your father. You can ask him; he will tell you all that I can't +tell you here. Come, be a good child--be my brave, sensible little +Frances--" + +"I must confess that this is the most extraordinary proceeding I ever +heard of," said the countess, in a loud but perfectly indifferent +voice. "Such language from such a mouth--_une femme entretenue qui ne +rougit pas de vouloir enlever un enfant a la mere legitime_--" + +"Countess," interrupted Julie, likewise raising her voice, "you said +that in French; that relieves me from the disagreeable necessity of +giving you the plain German answer that such an insult deserves--an +insult which you yourself know to be false. Besides, I haven't to do +with you, although you have permitted your rooms to be the theatre of +this intrigue. I merely have to reply to the mother that I have a right +to this child, a right that was voluntarily given me by its father, and +that I certainly regret having to make use of this right in opposition +to one who might have appealed to a holy right of Nature, had she not +of her own accord relinquished it. You wished to steal the child from +the father, and I, the betrothed of your former husband, fulfill only +my motherly duty when I resist such a robbery. Get ready, Frances; we +have nothing more to do here." + +The face of the young woman had grown deadly pale, her soft eyes +flashed fire, and she ground her little white teeth so that the sound +was plainly audible. + +"You allow yourself," she said, "to judge of circumstances you do not +understand, that have never been told you except in a one-sided and +distorted way. I have never renounced my natural right to call this +child mine; I have merely been obliged to yield for a time to force, +and I have always secretly hoped that time would come to my aid, that +the father of my darling would acknowledge the deep wrong he had done +me, and that the separation would tend to soften him. And who knows +that this would not have come about had you not stepped in between us? +Now, to be sure, that things have gone so far, there is no longer any +hope of settling the matter amicably. If I would have back what belongs +to me by sacred rights I was obliged to steal it as if it had been the +property of another; and how hard it will be for me to make it mine +again I have already discovered to my sorrow, for they have estranged +the heart of this poor, motherless creature from its most natural home. +Nevertheless, I will not cease to proclaim my right to the child and to +its father. Why do you stand in the way of a deeply-injured woman, a +robbed mother? Don't pretend you really care anything about becoming my +successor to the child, as you have become to the father. Skillfully as +you now play the _role_ of the tender mother, in your heart you will be +grateful to me if I relieve you of this burdensome duty; and he too, +the most fickle of men--believe me, if he only had a reasonable pretext +before the world, he would console himself in your possession, and +would rejoice that I had been so good-natured as to have removed from +his sight, without his express consent, the remembrance of an old +guilt!" + +She made a movement as if to draw the child to her arms, but it only +clung the tighter to Julie. + +"Take me away," it whispered to her, in a low voice. "Let us go +away--to dear papa--I don't want to go to that woman again." + +Julie stroked the little head, and pressed it to her side. She covered +the child's ears so thickly with its soft hair that not a word of all +this sad and bitter talk could reach its young soul. + +"Thank you," she said, "you have drawn a thorn from my conscience by +these disclosures. 'Perhaps, after all, he did her an injustice,' I +said to myself. 'Perhaps he was too violent, too hasty; and even if she +has been guilty of a great sin toward him, is it not punishment enough +that the mother has been deprived of her child for so many years? And +can I answer for it to this child for having forever destroyed all +hopes of a reconciliation between her parents?' This often gave me some +misgivings; but I candidly confess to you, from this day forth my +conscience will be easy on that score. No matter what you may say in +order to palliate what you have done, you cannot have the only real +justification, a true and genuine love for your child; if you did, how +could you entertain the thought that I would be glad to get rid of her? +Such a thing could only be said and believed by a woman who let five +years pass away without once trying to see, at any cost, the child she +had borne; and who never even waited in the streets that she might have +a chance to press it to her heart and kiss it once again. Such a +thought could only be entertained by the woman who believed that the +father of this child was capable of sacrificing it to his new-born +happiness, and would look on with indifference while it pined and +languished for want of a true mother's love. And you reproach me for +having plighted my troth to this man who never belonged to you, for you +never understood him, and never knew his worth, his nobility, and his +greatness. You may do your best to destroy his happiness and to +undermine his peace by your petty acts; in _this_ plot you have failed, +and, for the future, we shall take better care of ourselves and of the +child. You have given us warning!" + +She did not wait few an answer to these words, which she poured forth +in ever-increasing excitement. Before the women could collect their +thoughts and interfere she had seized little Frances's hat and cloak, +had put them on the child, and had borne her away in her arms. + +The moment she had gone, Stephanopulos entered the room with a nervous +laugh. + +"_Quelle femme!_" he said. "_Elle nous a joliment mis dedans._" + +"Angelos," commanded the countess, "go after her! She is perfectly +capable of seating herself in the carriage that stands before the door +and riding home in it. We need the carriage. There is no time to lose." + +"But, my dear countess, I don't understand. What is the use now?--and +you, madame--" + +He approached Lucie, who had sunk down on the lounge in speechless +stupor. + +"Don't be a child, Angelos!" said the countess, excitedly. "What is +there about it you don't understand? The game is lost! To be sure, if +it had only been played somewhat better--" + +"What would you have?" retorted the young woman, in an irritated tone. +"Didn't we do everything you advised us? If it hadn't been for this +horrible incident, everything would have turned out well. I should have +carried off the child, and by doing so have proved to the world that I +knew myself to be innocent, that I would not quietly submit to +everything they chose to put upon me, and that I had the courage to +defend myself against the incredible insults--" + +"Calm yourself, my good friend!" said Nelida, decisively. "Why should +we go on with a comedy that deludes no one? Enough, _le coup a manque!_ +We must take care that the recoil does not strike you. The journey +which you intended to take with the child you must take alone. Or, +don't you think that your husband will do all in his power to make you +suffer for the mere attempt, if he hears--" + +"He will rage like a tiger!" cried Stephanopulos. "I once saw a little +specimen of his rage when a hostler whipped a cart-horse until the +animal fell to the ground. He sprang upon the man and would have torn +him in pieces if we had not interfered. The countess is right--you must +fly; of course I will accompany you, until you are in safety." + +The old singer, who had kept herself in the background during the whole +scene, now stepped forward and zealously joined in urging flight. Lucie +let her have her way without moving a finger. + +In ten minutes all was ready; the carriage rolled away from the house, +and Nelida dragged herself to the window and stood gazing after them. + +The young Greek leaned out of the carriage, and nodded a last farewell. + +"_Bon voyage!_" said the solitary woman, carelessly returning the +salutation. "So this episode is played out, too! Poor creature--totally +without _elan_ in good or bad. And yet I pity her. To have been the +wife of this man, and now to have sunk so low as to have to be glad +when an insignificant young-- And I?--what is the end of it all? To +grow old and ugly--always older and uglier--the last spark dies out, +and finally the heart is buried beneath the ashes of its own passions. +A hell on earth! I would give the rest of my life to be, just for a +single year, as beautiful as this Julie--to be so loved, and by _this +man!_" + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + +Holding the delicate little figure clasped close to her breast, Julie +had hurriedly carried the child down the stairs. She felt as if she +were in an intoxication of indignation, contempt, defiance, and +triumph; her lips, which touched the child's locks, trembled, and her +heart beat so that she could hardly draw her breath. It was not until +she had reached the lower hall, and saw the eyes of the hotel people +fixed upon her, that she recovered her composure again, and letting +little Frances slide down on her feet she fastened on her hat and cloak +for her. The child had not spoken a word thus far. But now, when she +saw the traveling carriage standing packed and ready before the door, +she clung tight to Julie again, begging in a low voice that they should +hurry away. She seemed to fear that they would stop her even now, and +drive off with her in the carriage. Julie quieted her, ordered a drosky +to be called, and told the driver to drive home. + +They sat nestled close up to one another, and were silent. Once only +the child turned to her protectress and asked: + +"Will she travel off without me now?" + +"Don't think any more about it," Julie answered, kissing her on the +forehead. "You are with me now. Are you happy?" + +The child nodded and stroked Julie's hand. But one could see from her +eyes that her thoughts were still busy with what had passed. + +When they reached home Julie found a note, which Fridolin had brought, +containing a few lines from Jansen, written in pencil. He hoped he +should be able to see her before the day was over, and she mustn't feel +any anxiety about him. This made her very happy. She decided to let him +find his child with her, particularly as the weather was raw and it did +not seem advisable to put Frances, who was feverish from weeping, into +a damp drosky again. So she sent old Erich to the foster-mother, with a +note in which she asked permission to keep the little one with her +overnight. She wanted to do this, she said, in order to surprise the +father; and having dispatched the letter she enjoyed herself playing +with the child, whose affections she now felt as if she had thoroughly +won and deserved. She made a cup of chocolate, and looked on while it +eagerly drank it; for it had not touched the sweetmeats Lucie had given +it. + +She acknowledged such an evident interposition of friendly powers in +all that she had just passed through, and the good gods seemed to have +taken the part of her love and hopes so earnestly, that she had no +doubt but what the remaining difficulties would be also satisfactorily +solved. + +In this opinion she was shaken, though only for a moment, by the news +Frances's foster-mother brought. That good woman was still full of the +fright that had been caused by the supposed abduction of the child, and +had no sooner received Erich's message than she set out to convince +herself with her own eyes that at all events the worst had not +happened, and that little Frances was in safety. The excitement of the +last few hours, the self-reproach she felt, and the thought of the +consequences that might follow, had so worked upon her that, at the +sight of the child smiling a welcome to her, she burst into tears and +could with difficulty be quieted. As for the permission, she said she +no longer had any right whatsoever to give such a thing, now that it +appeared that the child had not been safe from such an invasion under +her own roof; and if the father should withdraw all his confidence from +her she felt she would have no right to complain. + +"Let me have her just for this night," Julie begged. "I have a +presentiment that Jansen must return to-night, and then he will be so +rejoiced to find us together. After to-morrow, you shall once more +enjoy your mother's privileges without stint, until I take your place +with still better rights." + +But her presentiment deceived her. + +The child was put to bed early, and, with its head resting on Julie's +pillow, had long since dropped off to sleep in the midst of a loving +chat with its "beautiful mamma." Julie sat and listened to the storm, +starting to her feet every time she heard a man's step approach the +house. But the hours slipped by, and she remained alone. At last, about +midnight, she gave up all hope. She dismissed her old servant, +noiselessly undressed herself, and lay down on the bed by the side of +the sleeping child. It was long before she closed her eyes. + +When she awoke next morning her little bedfellow soon roused herself, +and was very much surprised not to find herself in her accustomed +place. The preceding day, with its adventures, only floated before her +like a confused dream. She had a strange dislike to asking Julie how it +had all come about, but allowed Julie to dress her, amid much petting +and caressing, and to carry her home. Julie herself was depressed, and +felt her confidence in the helping powers of fate much shaken. She +resigned little Frances to the foster-mother, and then immediately +started for the studio. + +The weather had cleared, and a warm though pale winter sun shone down +upon the streets, covered with a thin layer of snow. The long walk did +Julie good. When she finally reached the house, her cheeks were +glowing, her blood was quickened, and her spirits had recovered their +former confidence. She was, therefore, all the more alarmed to find +four well-known figures in the courtyard, all of whom greeted her with +a look of profound distress--Angelica, Rosenbusch, Kohle, and Fridolin, +the janitor. They were standing in a group, and appeared to be eagerly +discussing something, when Julie's sudden arrival frightened them +apart. + +"What has happened?" she cried to them. "Has he returned? For God's +sake, what has happened?" + +"Dear Fraeulein," said Rosenbusch, who was the first to stammer out an +answer, "we know as little as you what has happened; but he has +returned, and last night too, and not very late either; he gave back +his horse to the stable-keeper himself; or, at all events, when I +inquired about it early this morning, the two animals stood in the +stalls, but the hostlers knew nothing of their riders. 'Well,' thought +I to myself, 'that affair passed off better than we had a right to +expect,' and hurried over here. But when I asked Fridolin, he knew +nothing except that the 'professor' must have returned, for he had not +been able to open the door of the studio; the key was inside, and he +had received no answer to his knocking. In the mean time, as the sun +rose quite high, I thought he certainly must have slept enough, and I +also knocked and gave him good-morning through the keyhole. No answer. +The marble-cutters, who wanted to get into the saints' studio, found +the door locked likewise; and after waiting for a time, they went away +again. As time went on I began to think there was something very odd +about it all. So I climbed up to the window on the garden side, and +looked into the ateliers--first into his own. Everything there was in +the best of order, only there was no trace of him. So I climbed down +again, and then up to the other window--well, in there things looked +oddly enough. Just picture it, Fraeulein: all his worthy saints, with +the exception of the models which he had made himself, were smashed +into fragments; and what was worse than all, in the midst of all this +wreck I saw him--our poor friend--stretched out on the floor as if he +were lying on the softest mattress; don't be frightened, Fraeulein, he +is alive and conscious, but so tired apparently that he cannot even +rouse himself enough to go into the other studio and lie down on the +sofa. For, upon my beating a most devilish reveille upon the closed +window and shouting out his name, he raised himself half up, made a +motion with his hand for me to leave him in peace, and then sank back +again on the heap of fragments, with nothing under his head but a +corner of his cloak." + +He broke off, as he saw Julie turn away hastily and hasten toward the +building. Angelica was about to follow, but she made a sign that she +wanted to go alone, and hurriedly entered the house. + +Inside, she listened for a moment at the door of the "saint-factory;" +as all was quiet she knocked with a trembling hand and called Jansen's +name. Immediately after the door opened, and he stood before her. + +He was wrapped in his cloak, his hair hung disheveled about his +temples, all the blood seemed to have left his face, and his eyes had +neither a wild nor a sad look; but their tired, wandering gaze pained +Julie more than the most passionate excitement. + +"It is you!" he said. "You are a little too early for me. I, as you +see--won't you come in? To be sure, it doesn't look very inviting +here--I have been clearing out a little, and because I did it in the +dark--" + +She had to exert all her strength in order to cast an apparently +composed look around the room. + +"What harm have these innocent figures done you?" she asked, closing +the door behind her. + +"Innocent?--ha, ha! They only pretend to be so. In reality they all +have the devil in them, in spite of their saints' halo. Not a single +one of them is really innocent. I ought to know that best, for I made +them. And I tell you, the reflection from the snow outside made it +bright enough for me to see the lie grinning from these stupid faces. +So I made an end of it and smashed them all to bits--another lie wiped +out of the world. I have been doing things by halves long enough; the +other half always avenges itself. Now I feel better again, especially +since I have seen you." + +He pressed her hand: his voice sounded hoarse and strained; his eyes +were bloodshot. She had to forcibly keep down her tears, as she stepped +over the wreck upon the floor. + +"I am glad that it all lies behind you now," she said. "I can feel with +you how it must pain you to make something in which your whole heart is +not interested. But come away from this destruction. We will make a +fire in the studio, and talk. Did you know that little Frances spent +the night with me? The darling child! It was hard for me to give her +back to the foster-mother. But then it won't be for long now." + +He made no answer, but submissively allowed himself to be led away +without raising his eyes from the ground. While she kindled the fire, +he sat on the sofa, his arms hanging down between his knees, and began +to hum a tune as if in accompaniment to the music made by the crackling +flames in the iron stove. He did not appear to notice that she had +again stepped to his side. It was not until she bent over, threw her +arms round his neck, and, with the tears streaming down her face, +kissed him again and again, that he became conscious of what was +passing; and, even then, he seemed to see everything as if through a +mist. + +"What are you crying for?" he asked, in surprise. "Am I not quite +cheerful and sensible? You, surely, are not afraid of me? Don't be +afraid, the worst is over. Last night, it is true, if any one had said +to me, 'Stamp with your foot on the ground and the whole world will +fall in ruins and bury you and all that is good and beautiful,' I +believe I would have done it. Well, those poor innocents there had to +bear the brunt of my fury; and now a little child might lead me by a +string." + +"Won't you tell me how it all happened?" + +"What would be the use? It is vile. It's bad enough that two persons +know of it besides myself. Besides, it can't be changed. Don't you know +that you must never draw the iron out of the wound unless you want the +man to bleed to death? What time is it? Is it evening or morning? I +believe I am hungry. The animal in man is immortal, and outlives all +the nobler impulses. Pardon me for talking so. The words fall from my +lips; I cannot hold them back." + +"I will go up to Angelica's room--she always has a little supply on +hand--or shall we go to my house?" + +"No matter about it. I feel a disgust for all food. Hunger and disgust +at the same time--a fine outlook for life! But it's no wonder. When one +has nourished himself with something that appears perfectly innocent, +and suddenly discovers that it has been gathered from the vilest +refuse--" + +She seated herself beside him on the sofa, and laid her arm on his +shoulder; but he seemed to be quite unmoved by her touch, though +usually her slightest caress would fairly intoxicate him. + +"You must tell me all!" she whispered, stroking his rigid face, while +the tears rolled down her cheeks. "Are we not one? Is not your life +mine, just as everything I am and have belongs to you? And yet you +would keep something from me, because it might give me pain! I demand +my full half of your pain, or I shall begin to doubt whether I was ever +anything more to you than a living picture in which your eyes found +pleasure." + +He slowly shook his head. "I must make an end of that, too," he said, +as if to himself. "I must have done with this half-way work. But that +pains me more; and it is not the beautiful image that must be dashed to +pieces, but he who moulded it out of clay. Ha, ha! As if it did not +follow that everything which comes from the earth must go back to the +earth again. A fine thought that, a truly charming prospect--ha, ha!" + +"Speak sensibly, dearest! Now I can't understand a word." + +"Well, then, to speak sensibly, I must go away--the sooner the better. +Do you understand what that means? I, myself--to tell the truth--I +don't quite understand it yet; but that comes from my weariness. As +soon as I have had a good sleep--" + +"Go away! And why go away? And where to?" + +"Why? You ask strange questions, dearest. As if we ever knew why we +live, why the sun shines on us today and to-morrow the storm rages. And +where it whirls us to--what matters it? Do you believe that any spot +will be dearer to me than another where I have to do without you?" + +"Without me? You are raving! O my God!--the--but I am crazy to let +myself be frightened by anything so--so impossible!" + +"Yes, yes!" he said, in a hollow voice, and with a bitter smile; +"impossible. So many things seem to us, until those two great +magicians, chance and crime, complete the trick, and make the +impossible only too actual. I candidly confess to you that, when my +sound reason leaves me for a moment, I also hear a voice within me +crying: 'It is impossible!' And yet it must be so--and we can do +nothing but kick our bleeding heels against the thorns of fate. What is +the matter with you all at once? You have let your arm fall from my +shoulder. Are you angry with me, poor woman, because I am a beaten man? +Say yourself what is there left for us to do but to renounce and +despair? Because I am so quiet with it all, do you think I have grown +cold overnight? But it is only, as I said, because all strength has +left me; even the strength to feel the deadliest pains. Let me sleep an +hour, and then you will be satisfied with the pitiable way in which my +heart will behave." + +He attempted to rise, but sank back again on his couch. Just at +this moment a knock was heard. They heard Angelica's voice on the +landing-place outside: "Only a word, Julie; I have something to give +you." + +Julie arose, and opened the door. Immediately she returned to Jansen, +who sat there perfectly indifferent, bearing a letter in her hand. + +"It is for you," she said. "It is Felix's handwriting. Will you open +it? I think you had better first go home with me and rest awhile, and +try to eat and sleep. You must have pretty well talked over everything +last night, so that it is hardly probable the letter can contain +anything new or important." + +"Do you think so?" he said, in a peculiar tone. "Because we were +friends, I suppose you think that each of us must know all about the +other. Well, then, my poor darling, open the letter yourself, and you +will get at the tricks by which chance has made the impossible +possible. Read it, read it whatever it is, it can't tell me anything +more that is worth knowing!" + +Breathlessly, she tore open the envelope; and standing at the window, +leaning her trembling figure against the sill for support, she read the +following lines. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + + FELIX TO JANSEN. + +"We parted so strangely, yesterday. Under the first shock of the +blow I ran away as if I had been blind and mad. As if one could +escape the mockery of hell in one's own breast! When I realized this, +I turned back. I should have been glad to have surrendered myself to +you--unconditionally--that very night. But you had already ridden away, +and the others had chosen to leave the house and hurry off by the night +train. Thus I am left here undisturbed, to come to my senses, and to +write you a long letter--to which I can expect no answer. + +"After all, what could you say to me? For we are parted again--we are +separated, after all. And the case is so terribly clear, that it makes +all explanation and discussion superfluous. Why, then, should I waste +so much paper? and even go out of my way to give an explanation at +which one scarcely knows whether he ought to laugh or weep? + +"But I owe it to you--no, not to you; for, at bottom, I did not sin +against you but against myself; and my confession, about which you will +perhaps care little, is merely a relief to that self, which I hope you +will grant me for the sake of our old friendship. I will try to be as +brief as possible. + +"You know how, just before my father died, I was sent to a +watering-place; and how I twice passed through the city where you +lived--the first time on my journey there, by way of Holland, where I +had business to attend to; and then again on my return, when I was +spurred on to the wildest haste by the news from home, and wanted to +spare us both a mere shake of the hand between the steamer and the +railroad, while in such a mood. In the interval between these two +visits, you had married and become a father. I looked forward to +becoming acquainted with your wife and child, but for that very reason +I put off our meeting until a brighter time, and passed through Hamburg +without suspecting---- + +"Still, in spite of all my anxiety as to how I should find my father, a +painful recollection followed me. You know I had never been very +straitlaced in my way of life or my adventures, and scarcely ever had +paid for this frivolity even with remorse. I was always conscientious +toward the conscientious, and unscrupulous toward the unscrupulous. I +had never consciously or deliberately tried to disturb the peace of a +single soul, and was above the level of the conventional _bonnes +fortunes_ one meets in his every-day path. + +"But, not to make myself out better than I was, certain temptations +were always powerful with me simply because of their adventurousness; +and a decidedly insignificant Juliet might have seduced me into playing +the Romeo, if the rope-ladder to her balcony had been a particularly +breakneck one. + +"Now, just before I came to Heligoland, various matters had united to +put me in a bad humor; and, besides, my nerves were unstrung by wrong +medical treatment, feverish work, and night-watching; and I troubled +myself little more about the society of the resort than I did about the +mussels and sea-weed on the beach. + +"In an instant all this was changed. A stranger suddenly made her +appearance--a young woman--who soon became the puzzle and the talk of +the whole island. The stranger's list recorded her as Madame Jackson, +of Cherbourg. She was without an escort, had rented rooms in a fisher's +hut standing quite alone, and appeared to make it her chief aim to set +all male and female tongues in motion by the oddity of her behavior. + +"She appeared on the beach very early in the morning in a toilet that +awakened the envy of all the ladies. It was not the costliness of the +materials or of the ornaments, but the singular grace with which she +knew how to wear and move in the plainest shawls and veils. Then, +besides, her face could not fail to attract the notice of everybody, if +only by its unusual contrasts. Her hair had a reddish-gold color, that +literally shone in the sun when she let it fall freely down her +shoulders; two delicate dark eyebrows curved over the softest blue +eyes, that looked out upon the world as if they hadn't the slightest +suspicion of the stir they were causing. A little black point-lace veil +hung down over her forehead--however, I needn't describe her to you. + +"Of course, the women insisted that her golden hair was dyed, and her +eyebrows painted. Such a play of colors did not exist in Nature. But +the men did not find it the less charming on that account. + +"An old Englishman was the first who ventured to address her, as a +countrywoman of his. She replied in the best of English, but so +shortly, that this unsuccessful attempt frightened away all others of +the same kind. + +"However, she herself soon appeared to tire of the isolation which she +had maintained for the first few days. She made advances to a +Mecklenburg lady, who had accompanied her sick daughter to the +seashore, and, under the pretext of sympathy, she struck up an +acquaintance with her which she let drop again after a short time, +evidently because it bored her. As she also spoke German, though with +an English accent, several country noblemen from the Mark, who had +fallen dead in love with her, ventured to speak to her. She treated +them with cool condescension, and it was not long before a regular +court had gathered about her, in which several young people with whom I +had heretofore associated allowed themselves to be enrolled. + +"They told me about the moods and whims of their lady, who was made up +of ice and fire; of childish innocence and the most refined coquetry; +of sentiment and wild audacity. + +"The English coldness, and the soft, dove-like smile, with which she +appeared in society, and the half-bored and half-ironical manner in +which she accepted the homage of her admirers, were merely a mask. When +she was alone with a person, an entirely different and much more +adventurous character made its appearance; a seductive, melancholy, and +yielding softness--which, however, changed at once into the harshest +coldness the moment he who had been encouraged by it began to grow +warmer, and attempted to seize the whole hand by means of the little +finger she held out to him. She would thrust back any such deluded +being into his place with the most cutting irony, and from that moment +would treat him with pitiless disfavor, without quite setting him free. + +"Several of my acquaintances had discovered this to their cost. They +gave me such minute accounts of their disgraceful defeats that I +recognized in this woman a type of those perfectly cold-blooded +coquettes who are--to the credit of the sex be it said--but rarely met +with. The aversion I had felt toward this sea-monster, from the very +first moment I had set eyes on her, was only the more confirmed by +this; but, at the same time, the thought sprang up in me that it might +be a good work, a meritorious act toward the whole male population of +the island, if I could succeed in catching this fisher of men in her +own net. + +"This purpose immediately became a fixed idea with me, actually as if +my own honor were staked on the result. As I knew that I was absolutely +proof against her charm, I proceeded to its execution without the +faintest scruples. She had long regarded my reserve with amazement and +anger; the consequence was that nothing was easier for me than to take +advantage of the first chance meeting I could bring about, to conquer a +place among her intimates. + +"I will refrain from inflicting upon you, scene for scene, an account +of the wretched comedy that now began. The fact that I had to do with a +skillful opponent aroused my ambition, and stung into life all the +dormant obstinacy of my character, so that, at the end of a week--for +she, too, staked all her pride upon finally seeing me at her feet like +all the others--we two stood confronting each other almost alone; her +former circle of admirers had withdrawn discomfited. + +"The great aim of my tactics was to represent myself as thoroughly +_blase_ and unsusceptible, and to act as though I found the great charm +of my intercourse with her merely in the fact that I had at last +encountered a kindred nature, who, like me, had long since disclaimed, +as a ridiculous delusion, the possession of any warmth of feeling. She +accepted the _role_ I assigned to her, but it never occurred to her for +a moment to cease trying to tempt me out of mine. Occasional human +emotions, into which I now and then allowed my calumniated heart +to be betrayed, gave her some right to hope; and the freedom of a +watering-place afforded a hundred opportunities for putting me to the +test. + +"Well, it turned out just as it could not help turning out. One evening +we came home from a stormy sailing excursion, which had not been +entirely free from danger, half wet through and hungry. The return trip +had been delayed from the fact of the skipper's having been obliged to +stop in the midst of the storm, to mend, as well as he could under the +circumstances, a leak in his boat; the consequence was it was late when +we reached her fisher's cottage. She herself seemed to have forgotten +her enforced _role_ for the moment, and appeared to have no other end +in view than to refresh and warm me before dismissing me to my +lodgings. While she went into her chamber and put on some dry garments, +I was forced to stay in the front-room, which was itself little more +than a small bedroom, and exchange my coat--which had been soaked +through and through with the salt water--for a Turkish jacket she had +selected from her wardrobe; and soon, the tea steaming on the table, +the warmth of the fire--which was very grateful in spite of its being +early fall--and, above all, the extraordinary manner in which we were +dressed after the dangers we had escaped, threw us both into a reckless +and merry mood such as I had never before experienced in her presence. + +"But even now I was still very far from feeling anything like love, not +even as much as I had sometimes felt in the most trivial of my +adventures. In the midst of my sportive chat with this woman I felt at +the bottom of my soul an unconquerable aversion toward her, indeed +something almost like a secret horror of her--as if a presentiment were +warning me who it was that sat opposite me. But a demon drove me on to +play to the end of the _role_ I had once undertaken, for, as I +persuaded myself--mad fool that I was!--my _honor_ was at stake! Never +was a victory more dearly bought, never did a man who thought to +triumph feel himself so lost and degraded in his own sight as I did in +that hellish hour. Had I strangled this woman in a fit of blind +passion, it would not have so degraded me as this impudent comedy. + +"And the wretched woman felt that I could not, do what I would, carry +out the _role_ of a favored lover;--the suspicion dawned upon her in +what light I must appear to myself and she to me. Horror, hate, and +resentment toward me, and perhaps also shame and self-reproach, +suddenly overpowered her with such force that she burst into a storm of +tears; and when I, in compassionate surprise, attempted to approach +her, she thrust me back with a violent gesture of disgust, and +immediately afterward fell into a fainting-fit that seemed almost like +death. + +"That night I passed probably the most painful hours of my life, in +awkward attempts to bring her back to consciousness. I did not dare to +call for assistance for fear of compromising her. When at last she +opened her eyes again I saw that the most forbearing thing I could do +would be to leave her without saying farewell. + +"I found no sleep that night. I cursed the hour in which I had seen +this woman, my childish defiance and my profligate obstinacy. In vain I +endeavored to comfort myself with the thought that I had pretended no +deep feeling toward her, that I had received no more from her than I +had returned. The feeling of abhorrence, disgust, and self-contempt +would not be reasoned away--and now to-day I am almost tempted to +believe there was something mysterious about the whole affair: an +indefinite horror of the guilt toward my dearest friend, with which I +had laden my soul. + +"The following day I staid at home and saw no one. Not because I was +afraid of meeting her again; for it never entered my thoughts that she +would take a step across her threshold, lest she should encounter my +gaze. In this respect, however, I found myself deceived. She actually +made her appearance on the beach, about noon, as beautiful and +unembarrassed as ever; they had asked her about me, and she had replied +that she had seen nothing of me since we landed the night before. +Perhaps I had caught a cold on the excursion! + +"'_Une femme est un diable!_' + +"But on the third day, when, after pondering on this profound saying, I +issued forth again, anxious to see whether she would maintain her +calmness in my presence too, I heard that she had gone away by the +first steamer that morning--no one knew whither. + +"This was my last day on the island. About noon I received the sad +message that called me home. With the evening boat I left the scene of +this vile farce, the bitter memory of which did not fade from my +thoughts for long years afterward. + +"It is true the days of mourning that awaited me at home, and then soon +afterward the only true passion of my life, helped me to consign what +had happened to the dim realm of the past--until it rose up before me +this evening in all the horror of the present, and I was made to see +that the penance I supposed I had satisfied by my separation from Irene +was now demanded of me for the first time; and that the happiness of my +whole life was to be the price of a guilt which I thought I had long +since outlived. + +"For as to this open confession, which would be sufficient, if produced +before any court, to give you back the freedom you so long for--I know +you too well not to feel sure that you will never make use of it. +Therefore, you too will continue in chains, and I--how I should despise +myself if, with this hellish laughter of Nemesis ringing in my ears, I +should appear again before the dear girl I had so recently recovered, +and should offer myself as a fitting husband, while you and Julie were +obliged, by my guilt, to remain separated, at least before the world! +The fact that I have to suffer more than I sinned does not in the least +change the question. + +"It has always been the custom of Divine justice to make use of +different scales and different weights and measures, in exacting its +dues. The sin that one man is scarcely made to expiate by a +disagreeable hour costs another his own happiness and the happiness of +all those dear to him! + +"And now I have said all that I had to say. I shall refer Irene, to +whom I have merely sent a short note, to you, in case she should insist +upon learning the true reason why I am forced to leave her anew--and +this time forever--without looking on her face again. Perhaps if I did +I should not have the courage--and then I should be all the more +contemptible in your eyes. + +"It won't be long now before morning. Then I will saddle my horse, ride +back to town, pack my trunks, and take good care that this letter does +not come into your hands until there is no longer any danger that your +magnanimity or your pity will attempt to restrain a man who can only +recover his self-respect in exile. + +"Farewell!--I do not dare to call you by the old familiar name. But +since, from what I know of you, you will not cease, in spite of all +that has happened, to cherish a warm feeling toward me, let me say, in +conclusion, that you must not think of me as a despairing man who is +ready to throw away his ruined life too cheaply. The sweets of life +are, indeed, behind me; but much that is useful still lies open for me +to do, so that I may atone to all mankind for the old crime I committed +against an individual. Perhaps I may some time find out why it is that +fate should have chosen me, from all the rest, to be punished with +double measure for my sins. Felix." + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + +Julie had long ago finished reading the letter, and still she stood +motionless at the window, while Jansen, his head sunk on his breast, +sat on the sofa in a state between waking and sleeping. + +It was not until the sheets slipped from her hand and fell at his feet +that he started from his stupor. But he did not pick them up. + +"What does he write?" He asked in a hollow voice. + +"Just what you thought he would," she answered. "You will hardly find +anything new in the letter, or at all events, anything that can alter +things. So you had better read it at some calmer hour, after you have +had a good sleep. In spite of all, I feel sure the letter will do you +good. It would have been impossible to write of an unworthy subject in +a more dignified way, and I, at least, have no worse opinion of our +friend since I have heard his sad story. I believe everything will yet +go well, and we needn't even lose our friend. He speaks, to be sure, of +his self-imposed exile, and has also written a farewell letter to +Irene, because he is of too chivalrous a nature to allow himself a +happiness of which he thinks he has deprived us." + +He raised his head and looked at her with a dazed, inquiring look in +his eyes. + +"I don't understand a word!" he said. + +She bent over him, clasped her arms round his neck, and kissed him on +the forehead. + +"It isn't at all necessary you should understand me, dear one. Only +keep quiet and trust to your best friend. It is true, circumstances +treat us ill! but a true love and a little common-sense--oughtn't they +to come out triumphant over all the tricks of blind fortune? I am only +a woman; but it goes against my pride to submit so tamely and +helplessly, when life is at stake. For in our hearts, is not everything +pure between us two? And shall we not belong to one another merely +because all sorts of impurity and hostility work against us from +without? No, my dearest, we will not submit to this. Because we live in +an imperfect world, we will do our best to make it more perfect; at +least on that plot of earth on which our cot may stand." + +Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke, but she smiled upon him so +tenderly that, for the first time in a long while, a sense of warmth +passed over the soul of this broken-hearted man. + +"What do you mean, dear?" he asked, looking at her in surprise. + +"Be still--not yet!" she whispered, as she brushed back his hair from +his forehead and kissed his eyes. "But if you love me, as you say, and +as I must believe you do or else I could not live, trust me and do just +what I ask. In the first place ride home and take some breakfast, at +which little Frances will keep you company. And then lie down and sleep +as well and as soundly as you possibly can. But I must wake you up +toward evening, for I shall expect to see you at my house punctually at +seven o'clock. If you will be very obedient and do all this, you shall +learn, as a reward, the plan I have formed to smooth over these wearing +troubles, and to make four good people happy. Until then don't try to +think what it can be, but rely upon your true love. Will you do this?" + +She kissed him long and tenderly, while he stammered some confused +words. Then she led him out of the room. He cast a timid look toward +the door of his saint factory. + +"My child," he said, "I am ashamed of myself. You saw me there! Is it +possible you can love a madman?" + +"I am not a bit afraid," she smiled. "That wild spirit will never, even +in its darkest hour, shatter anything that is sacred to us both." + +When she saw the drosky roll away, she breathed more freely, and went +slowly into the house. She had given the friends, who waited +impatiently for news, a hint to withdraw and not to come in his way. +Kohle had gone with Rosenbusch into the latter's studio; Angelica sat +before her easel without touching a brush. Now, when Julie entered, she +rushed upon her in her violent way. "Well?" she cried. "But what is it? +you have been crying!" + +"Not for sorrow, dearest! Though there was room for that too. For much +that is bitter lies behind us, and how much more beautiful it all might +be! But the best is not lost--listen--I must tell you something." + +She stooped over and whispered something in her ear. A loud cry of joy +burst from the faithful soul. She blushed deeply from joyful surprise, +and the next minute she had her arms round Julie's neck, almost +suffocating her with kisses and caresses. + +"Foolish girl," said Julie, escaping from her at last. "What is the +matter? Didn't you always prophesy it would turn out this way in the +end? Now do me the favor to be as sensible as it is possible for an +artist to be. You must help me; without you--how would it be possible +for us to be ready by this evening? I want to tell you at once how I +have thought it all out!" + +They remained together for another half hour engaged in a most earnest +consultation, and then separated, after many tender embraces and +assurances of eternal friendship. The two men in the next room had only +heard through the wall the cry of joy, and then an unintelligible +whispering and murmuring; their impatience had been cruelly racked. +When, therefore, the door was heard to open, they too stepped out into +the entry with an air of quiet reproach. + +"Angelica will tell you all about it!" cried Julie, running quickly +down the stairs. "And I depend upon your both giving me the pleasure of +a call this evening. Don't be alarmed about Jansen. He is at home now, +and well taken care of--" + +With this she disappeared from their sight. + +"Fraeulein Minna Engelken," said Rosenbusch, "will your at length +condescend to inform us what this tedious session, with closed doors +has to portend?" + +"Only as much as it will be proper and necessary for you to know, Herr +von Rosebud!" replied the painter, who was so excited and preoccupied +that she had put on her hat wrong side before, and had not succeeded +much better with the rest of her street toilet. "The two gentlemen are +invited to take a cup of tea with Fraeulein Julie this evening, and are +requested to convey this message to Herr von Schnetz, to Herr Elfinger, +and to Papa Schoepf also. You are to appear punctually at a quarter +before seven in full uniform, and with all your decorations. For +particulars, see small bills. And now I must beg to be excused--I +have such a host of commissions--and since the lords of creation +cannot possibly be made use of for anything outside of the arts and +sciences--I will say _au revoir!_ until to-night, gentlemen!" + +She made a coquettish courtesy, hustled the astonished visitors out of +her studio without much ceremony, and flew, singing, down the stairs. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + +Julie had pursued her way with far more hesitation as soon as she +reached the street. She stood still more than once, as though she were +considering whether she should go on. In regard to Felix's letter to +Jansen--of whose contents Irene would have to be informed in order that +she might understand the flight of her lover--if she should send it to +her instead of delivering it herself, would not that be more +considerate? Would it not spare the poor girl the shame of looking in +the face a friend who knew of her lover's sins? And yet, on the other +hand, would it not be a last comfort to her to know that even those who +were most directly affected by it had not withdrawn their affection +from the deeply-penitent man, but would gladly have done anything to +convince him of the folly of his ideas in regard to his self-imposed +penance? + +She felt that she ought to tell her all this immediately, and by word +of mouth, hard as it would be for her. + +When she reached the hotel, the scenes of the preceding day rose up so +vividly before her that, fearful of meeting Nelida, she hurried up the +stairs without first making any inquiries at the office. Her anxiety +was superfluous. The countess had over-exerted her lame foot the day +before, and lay in bed in the greatest pain. + +But, upon arriving up-stairs, the baron came forward to meet her with +such a woe-begone face, that she was greatly frightened. + +"Where is Irene?" she cried. "Sick?" + +"I hope not," answered the old gentleman, grasping her hand, and +evidently breathing more freely, as if a guardian angel had at length +appeared to him. "At least, she was in such excellent health two hours +ago that, in spite of the bad weather, she suddenly made up her mind to +start off over the Brenner pass, accompanied only by her maid." + +"She has gone? Then I come too late!" + +"My dear Fraeulein, you at all events come early enough to bring comfort +and aid to an old man. You see before you one who has had unexampled +ill-luck in his experience of paternal joys. My own daughter slams the +door in my face, and my other, my adopted daughter, who ought at least +to honor me as her educator and natural protector, runs away from me. +It comes all in a heap, to turn my hair gray before its time!" + +"But why did you let her go? Why did you permit her--" + +"Permit her! As if she asked for my permission! Just think of it, it +was _she_, on the contrary, who gave me permission to remain here a +while longer, in order that I might arrange my affairs 'in peace,' as +she expressed it, before following her--which, again, I am not to do +until I receive her express permission! Alas! my dear Fraeulein, have I +remained a bachelor, and manfully withstood all the fascinations of +your sex, merely to be put under the control of two grown daughters in +my old age?" + +"Do tell me what reason Irene gave you for this sudden decision?" Julie +asked, after a pause. + +"You are very good to suppose she would consider it worth while to give +me reasons!" cried the old gentleman. "Well-educated children are +accustomed to do whatever they feel like, and not to hand in a long +account to their foolish papas. That that rascal, Felix, is at the +bottom of it all--so much I have worked out by my talent for +combination. Last night she went to bed in the best of spirits, and +even condescended to give me a dutiful kiss, whose value I knew how to +appreciate because of its rarity. Early this morning, while I was +sitting here waiting for her to come to breakfast, a note arrived from +her _fiance_. I send it in to her, not suspecting anything out of the +way, and a half hour passes before I discover what the trouble is. All +at once the door opens, and my Fraeulein niece appears in complete +traveling-rig. 'Uncle,' she says--and her face is as pale and as set as +a wax doll's--'I am going to start off for Innsbruck by the next train. +I beg you not to ask the reason. You may be sure that I have considered +the matter maturely' (maturely! Only think of it, dear Fraeulein, a +whole half hour!) 'and, as I know that you won't be able to tear +yourself away from here so quickly, I sha'n't think of asking you to +accompany me. It will be sufficient if Louisa goes with me. I shall +make my first stop in Riva. From there I will write to you when you are +to follow. I'--and at this point her voice grew a little unsteady--'I +want to be alone for a while. You may say good-by for me to such of my +acquaintances as you see fit. Be sure and remember me most particularly +to Fraeulein Julie. _Adieu!_' I was, as you can imagine, somewhat taken +aback by this order of the day in true bulletin style. It was not until +she turned away, and I saw that she was really in earnest in what she +said, that I found enough breath to ask, 'But Felix! Does he know about +this? And what shall I tell him when he comes and no longer finds his +betrothed here?' 'He will not come,' she said. 'He--he is prevented. +You will find out all about it later. Now I must hurry, unless I want +to miss the train.' And with this, she was up and away! Oh, my dear +Fraeulein! I, too, can cry out with the old cabinet-maker in a +blood-and-thunder piece they are playing here at the theatre: 'I no +longer understand this world!' Tell me yourself, is there a kreutzer's +worth of common-sense in this whole comedy? To say nothing of the +capricious Fraeulein, there is the lover, who, only yesterday, swore by +all the stars in Heaven he was the happiest wretch who had ever been +pardoned with the rope already round his neck--he comes to a different +conclusion over night and 'is prevented!' Now, you associate with these +artists, Fraeulein Julie. Tell me, do they learn diabolical tricks of +this kind in their so-called Paradise, and are they the result of their +celebrated joviality? If so, then my Kabyles and Arabs are the most +Philistine of Philistines compared with these gentlemen!" + +Julie had listened, full of sympathy, to this long outpouring of the +heart. Yet now she had to laugh. + +"Dear Herr Baron," she said, "don't take the matter so to heart. I +think I am justified in assuring you that all will be cleared up and +come out right in the end. Whatever I can do to bring this about, I +shall naturally do with all my heart, since my own peace and happiness +depend upon knowing that the young couple are happy too. I hope soon to +be able to talk the matter over with your niece in person. In case you +should have any messages, I also start for the South to-morrow, and +shall most certainly go by the way of Riva." + +"You, too!" broke out the baron, springing up as if he had been struck +by lightning. "Now the world is coming to an end! That was the only +thing lacking. No, tell me you are only joking! What is it that drives +you off as if you, too, had been stung by a scorpion? And, besides, you +made me a promise in regard to my child--or, perhaps, she goes too, now +that all Paradise is being loaded on a cart, and Bohemia retreats +through the deepest snow to the land of sunshine?" + +"You make me laugh, dear baron, although I am truly in no mood for +laughter. I repeat, only have patience for a little while. I can't tell +you about it to-day. I hope to be able to put your mind at rest about +your daughter before I start. You will receive a few lines from me +tomorrow, and at the same time a letter to Irene's _fiance_, whose +address I don't know--for, the truth is, he has gone away because of an +affair in which his honor is at stake. Promise me, as a reward for what +I am going to do as your mediator with Herr Schoepf, to see that this +letter reaches Baron Felix's hands safely, at all costs. They must know +something about his whereabouts on his estates, and, if the worst comes +to the worst, we shall have to seek for him through the newspapers." + +"Now I have it!" cried the baron, eagerly; "an affair of honor--a +_rencontre_--and that is why the girl was so beside herself that she +could not bear even my vicinity. Well, if that's the case, I don't feel +troubled. The boy has a sure hand, and won't be such a fool as to let +himself be shot dead now that he is engaged to be married. But only +tell me--_centre qui?_--overnight in this way--and all the while with +good comrades of his, and peaceable disciples of art to boot!" + +Julie considered it her wisest course to make no other reply than a nod +of the head to this conjecture, which evidently completely allayed the +old gentleman's fears. He grew very jolly again, kissed her hand +repeatedly, and only begged her at parting to do her best to help him +fulfill his paternal duties. + +"Tell the defiant little red-head," he cried after her, as she was +going down-stairs, "that I haven't the slightest desire to force my +tenderness upon her in person. We can get accustomed to one another by +letter, and familiarize ourselves with the thought that we have found +one another again. Life in Germany is too full of adventures for me. I +am going back to my quiet desert; and to you, my beautiful friend, I +will send the skin of the first lion I kill, as a reward for your +endeavors to help a father to a daughter who doesn't want to have +anything to do with him!" + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + +Jansen had gone home as if in a dream; and even the wild demonstrations +of joy with which he was received by his child did not succeed in +driving away the stupor that hung over him. He did not ask either +Frances or her foster-mother what had happened in his absence, but +stared vacantly, sighed often, and returned confused answers. When he +had eaten something, and drunk some strong wine, he fell asleep while +sitting at table, with difficulty roused himself sufficiently to tumble +into bed, and had just sense enough left to impress upon the woman the +fact that he must be waked at six o'clock. + +Then, when the evening came, little Frances only succeeded, after much +shouting and shaking, in dispelling his leaden sleep; from which, +however, the weary man awoke with joyous eyes. He lay for a while and +enjoyed the physical relief, the peace in his heart, which he had +missed so long. Every word his beloved had said to him that morning +came back to his mind again; he knew that with all her kind words she +could have meant but one thing; and yet he trembled at the thought that +it might all have been a delusion. But the certainty of happiness +invariably kept the upper hand. + +When, at length, he arose, he felt as if he had recovered from an +illness--as if he were invigorated by fresh blood--and he marveled at +this transformation; for he remembered that on this very morning he +would have liked best to burrow his way into the earth and never see +the sun again. He kissed his little daughter again and again, pressed +the old woman's hand--the foster-mother was absent--and started off for +Julie's lodgings. + +But, when he arrived at the house, he was surprised to see a bright +light streaming through the blinds of all five windows. He knew that +she was fond of having her room bright, but for all that it struck him +that all was not as usual. He asked the old servant, who helped him to +take off his overcoat in the hall, but received no definite answer; +and he was painfully surprised when he opened the door and saw the +brightly-lighted room full of people. + +It is true, they were all familiar faces. Angelica sat on a sofa by the +side of old Schoepf, Rossel had established himself in the most +comfortable of the two armchairs, and Rosenbusch and Kohle appeared to +be absorbed in the contemplation of some engravings on the wall, while +Julie was conversing with Schnetz and Elfinger near the door. A covered +table, decorated with beautiful bouquets, stood along the wall on the +side where the windows were, and little Frances's foster-mother was +busy adding the last finishing touches to it. They were all in evening +dress, and even Rosenbusch had refrained from wearing his historical +velvet-jacket, which the summer had dealt with pretty severely, and +appeared in a magnificent dress-coat--the only trouble with which was +that it was rather too broad, inasmuch as it had been taken from +Rossel's wardrobe. But the most beautiful of all, in her simplicity, +appeared the mistress of these halls herself. She wore a white dress of +the finest woolen, which exposed but a little of her white shoulders +and her arms as far as the elbow. A plain gold chain, from which hung a +medallion containing a miniature of her mother, was wound several times +about her neck; her hair was brushed back smoothly, and intertwined +with a garland of myrtle; in her bosom was fastened a dark-red +pomegranate blossom. + +In his first surprise Jansen started back from the threshold with a +look of bitter disappointment, which Julie alone understood. But, +before he had time to recover his presence of mind, he felt himself +seized by the gentlest hands, and disarmed by a single soft word +whispered in his ear. + +"Here he comes at last," she said, leading the speechless man into the +centre of the room. "And first of all I must beg his pardon for not +having told him beforehand whom he would find here. For even though +they are only our best and dearest friends whom I have invited to our +farewell gathering--still, I know you would have preferred to see no +one this evening but myself. And yet, though I would gladly do anything +else for your sake--I could not do otherwise than what I have done on +this occasion. Our friends all know that I am determined to share my +life with you until death parts us. Do you not feel with me that it +would be contrary to my honor and my womanly pride, to pass +clandestinely into the new life that has been opened to us, as if we +had committed a sin, instead of entering upon it with open brow, +followed by the congratulations of our dearest friends, as other happy +bridal couples do?" + +She stopped, for a moment, overcome by her emotion. But, as he made no +movement, except to raise to his lips the hand with which she held his, +she recovered her courage, and continued in a lower voice: + +"Our roles are so singularly transposed. It is customary for the voice +of the bride to be heard only when she says 'yes' at the foot of the +altar. But here there is no altar, and the bride must pronounce the +wedding address herself. I confess that, since I plighted my heart and +my troth to my beloved friend, I have always cherished the hope that +things would turn out differently. I thought it would be so beautiful +to go up to the altar with him, as other brides do; and have our union +so sanctioned. But, since this could not be, what right have we to be +so cowardly and narrow-minded as to cling to a mere form when two human +lives are at stake? As soon as I saw that it was to decide the weal or +woe of his life and of his art, every scruple left me. We are neither +of us so young or so inexperienced as to be deceived about our hearts. +They are indissolubly bound together. And it is therefore no crime and +no presumption, but something that was as certainly decreed by Heaven +as was ever union between two human beings, for me to be from this day +forth the true wife of this man, and for him to be forever my beloved +husband." + +She turned away for a moment; her voice failed her. A breathless +silence reigned. The gentlemen, with the exception of the bridegroom, +who gazed fixedly in his beloved's eyes, lowered their eyes and stood +solemn and still as if in a house of worship; the little foster-mother +held her handkerchief before her eyes, and the big tear-drops rolled +down Angelica's face, while she struggled to look at her friend as +cheerfully and encouragingly as possible. Now, when the latter turned +to her, she hastily took up a little silver dish she had held in +readiness and handed it to Julie, trying, as she did so, to give her +friend's hand a stolen pressure. Two little gold rings, looking rubbed +and thin, as if they had been worn a long time, lay in the plate. + +"These are the wedding rings of my parents," said the bride. "For many +long years they served as the sign of a union that grew ever firmer in +good and in bad fortune. I think you will not oppose me, dearest, if I +use them to sanctify our marriage. I herewith give you this ring that +my father received from my mother, and swear to you, before these +friends of ours, to be a true wife to you and a good mother to your +child. And if you do not repent of having offered me your life--" + +She could not finish. In a sudden overflow of feeling he seized the +other ring, thrust it at random on one of her fingers, and folded the +blushing girl in a passionate embrace. It seemed as if he would never +let her go again; his breast heaved with suppressed sobbing, he hid his +face upon her neck, and her soft locks dried the tears he was ashamed +to show. + +In the mean while it appeared that none of the witnesses took the +slightest notice of this passionate outburst. Rossel seemed to be +earnestly studying the pattern of the carpet; old Schoepf took out his +handkerchief and polished his spectacles; Elfinger stood at the piano, +with his back toward the newly-married couple, and slowly turned over +the pages of a music-book. Angelica fell upon the foster-mother's neck, +while Kohle seized Rosenbusch's hand and shook it warmly. + +At length when the bride had somewhat recovered her composure and had +gently released herself from her husband's arms, Schnetz, who up to +this time had been violently plucking at his imperial, advanced toward +the couple and stammered out a few words of cordial felicitation. This +gave the signal for a general crowding around, and the most joyful +handshaking and congratulation. All spoke at the same time, each held +the hand of the bride and bridegroom as tightly as if he hoped never to +have to release it again, and every one seemed to want to repudiate, as +something very superfluous and out of place, the emotion which had +moved all their hearts but a few minutes before. Angelica was the first +to restore quiet and order to this confusion, by rapping on a glass and +requesting the guests to come to supper. The bridal couple were to +start on their wedding journey in a few hours, and, as the bridegroom +had not even packed his trunk yet, it was doubly advisable for them not +to let the wedding feast grow cold. + +So they took their places. Old Schoepf was given the seat of honor on +the other side of the bride, Rosenbusch captured a place next to +Angelica, and Rossel took charge of the foster-mother, although, as a +general thing, he studiously avoided having any women near him when at +table. Of the meal itself it will only be necessary to say that Edward +Rossel had placed his own cook at Angelica's disposal, and had sent his +servants along with her; the selection and the cooling of the wine had +also been his care, although, except himself, scarcely any one of the +guests took much notice of what they ate and drank. Those in particular +who sat opposite the bridal couple seemed to be so fascinated by the +sight of their happiness, by the beauty of Julie, and the dreamy look +of inspiration in Jansen's face, that they looked very little at their +plates. To this number belonged Angelica, whose hand wandered across +the table every now and then to meet that of her adored friend under +the shadow of the huge bouquet. + +Julie's plan was to carry her husband off to Italy, there to look for +some spot on which to settle down and found their home. When they had +made up their minds whether Florence, or Rome, or Venice was to be +their resting-place, they were to return and get little Frances, who +would have been rather out of place in this wintry wedding-journey of +her parents. + +Meanwhile Julie had taken advantage of a favorable opportunity to enter +into a low conversation with old Schoepf in regard to the future of his +grandchild. In spite of the power she exerted over all with whom she +came in contact, she did not find it easy to break down the old man's +obstinacy. Finding that all her assertions of how sincere the baron's +remorse was were of as little avail as her efforts to convince him of +the material benefit which the reconciliation would be to his +grandchild's future, she finally summoned cunning to her aid, and +represented that in granting this request he would be conferring a +personal favor upon her, a sort of wedding-present, which such an old +friend of her husband surely could not refuse her. The chivalrous old +man could resist no longer, and so, with a solemn shake of the hand, +Julie secured all that the baron could demand with any kind of justice, +although a complete reconciliation still seemed quite unattainable for +the present. + +Jansen had been listening to this conversation, which had been carried +on in a low tone; and now he, in his turn, thanked the old man by a +pressure of the hand. All this time he had scarcely uttered a word. His +heart was full of a bliss too deep for words; the cheerful noise of the +good people about him sounded in his ears as if it came from a great +distance; his eyes rested on the flowers before his plate, and did not +even venture to gaze at the noble woman who was really his own at last; +and it was only with difficulty that he could force himself even to +smile when the others burst into roars of laughter over some joke of +the lieutenant's, or some enthusiastic expression of Angelica's. + +As they sat thus, there suddenly burst forth from Julie's piano, at +which Elfinger was seated, the first bars of the wedding-march in the +"Midsummer Night's Dream." On the instant all voices were hushed, and +they stood listening to the fairy strains that made them forget, for +the moment, that the winter night with its thousand glittering stars +looked in upon them, and suffered no other elfin tricks than those +which possibly lurked concealed in the foam of the champagne glasses. + +When it came to an end the silence still continued for a while. The +bride had disappeared with Angelica into the next room, and now +returned again in traveling-dress. Schnetz now called upon Rosenbusch +to let the departing couple take some of his verses with them as a +farewell blessing on their journey. But he, who was generally so +obliging, could not be induced to do this at any price. He would only +promise to forward them his bad rhymes in black and white, accompanied +with marginal illustrations. + +"It is late," said Julie, "and we have still to take leave of our +child. We leave her in the best of care, and hope soon to see her +again. And now we must say good-by." + +She first embraced the foster-mother and kissed her warmly. Then she +gave her hand and a kind word and look to each of the others in turn, +and hastened out of the room, no longer able to control her emotion. +Jansen, too, had parted from his friends with great feeling, entreating +them all not to follow him beyond the door. Angelica alone insisted +upon accompanying the couple as far as the carriage. The others stepped +to the window and watched them get in, together with old Erich, who was +to accompany them, while Angelica still stood on the carriage step +unable to tear herself from Julie's neck. When she at last stepped +down, and the door was slammed to, those in the house stepped to the +wide-opened window, with full glasses and burning lamps and candles, +and shouted a loud "good luck!" to the departing couple. The waving of +a handkerchief and of hands from the carriage doors answered them; and +the drosky rolled away. + + + + + + _BOOK VII_. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +All of a sudden Paradise had become very desolate. In the rooms that +had once resounded with conversation and laughter until long after +midnight, there now assembled a mere handful of rather morose and +chilly comrades, who did not thaw out even over their wine. They sat +behind their glasses, silent and disconsolate, each one expecting of +the other that he would suddenly break out again in the old festal +mood. For, in spite of the great necessity for social intercourse that +is inherent in the German character, nothing is more remarkable than +the rarity of true social talent, and still more the lack of that +social sense of duty which urges the individual to do all in his power +to contribute to the general entertainment. Most Germans go into +society just as they go to the theatre, and believe they have done all +that duty requires of them when, from their seats, they have made +careful observations of the actors; and they think themselves justified +in complaining of being bored whenever the latter are in a bad mood for +acting. This unmistakable decline, which generally takes place in every +club soon after it has reached its highest prosperity, was still +further hastened, in the case of the Paradise society, by outward +circumstances. In Jansen's departure it had lost the one member whose +mere presence gave it its distinctive character. The very fact that he +had no desire to rule had led them to give him, without opposition, +that leadership for which he was qualified before all others by his +superiority, mature judgment, and simplicity of bearing. Still, there +were several among his friends who might have succeeded in upholding +the old traditions after his departure, had it not happened that the +very ones who were best fitted and most influential had themselves +personal reasons for withdrawing. + +Since the recovery of his grandchild it was impossible to induce old +Schoepf to pass an evening away from home. He devoted himself entirely +to taming his little refractory savage--a task in which he was obliged +to work very carefully, for the strange creature still threatened to +run away if they tried to restrict her freedom in the slightest degree. +She would not submit for a moment to any regular course of instruction, +but thought she did quite enough if she took charge of household +matters, for which she showed great aptitude, and attended to her +toilet or took a walk with her grandfather in her spare hours. She +never asked after his friends, Jansen and Schnetz, not even after +Felix, who had disappeared so suddenly. Her face had grown rather +prettier from good living and comfortable surroundings, and her figure +fuller; and she could now gratify her taste for dress, for her +grandfather treated her like a pet doll. It was no wonder, therefore, +that Rossel only grew more confirmed in his passion, particularly as he +made it a rule to see her daily. + +He came in the evening, generally bringing with him Kohle, who had been +the greatest sufferer by Jansen's departure. The two gradually became +so accustomed to the old man's parlor that they willingly gave up the +nights at the Paradise club for its sake. Usually, after they had +talked awhile, or had looked over some photographs or engravings, +Rossel drew a book from his pocket, either a volume of poems or +something else that was interesting at once to children and sages, and +began to read aloud; apparently without giving a thought to the girl, +who took pains to move about as much as possible, as if to show that +both he and his companion were utterly indifferent to her. Sometimes, +however, when he chanced to strike the right key, she would crouch down +on her little chair near the stove, and listen with open mouth and +wide-open eyes in which the light of intelligence was slowly beginning +to dawn. But she never allowed herself to be drawn into a conversation +about what had been read, and never varied in her manner toward her +admirer, so that he perceptibly grew thin with disappointment. + +This same conduct, so singularly made up of frivolity and persistency, +she maintained toward her own father. After old Schoepf had consented +to allow the baron to exercise at least the outward rights of a father, +an interview had taken place between the two; and the sincere +melancholy of the baron, who was usually such a lighthearted cavalier, +had not failed to make an impression upon the grim old man. As the +latter felt that he could not acquit himself of all blame in the +affair, they had arrived at an understanding which, though not exactly +cordial, was nevertheless very different from the frosty relations that +had previously existed between them; and arrangements had been made for +the daughter's benefit in accordance with the baron's wishes. During +the half hour which she consented to give, at her grandfather's +request, to an interview between her and the author of her being, she +sat at her papa's side as cold and stiff as possible, and almost as if +she were giving an audience; while he exhausted his amiability in +attempts to touch her heart. She did not feel the slightest affection +for him, she declared over and over again. Before she saw him she hated +him; now she felt absolutely indifferent toward him, and she could not +understand how her dead mother could ever have loved him. He must not +flatter himself that she would ever feel differently. She had never +been able to bear faces like his; she was sorry, but it was always her +way to speak the truth, and because he had lied to her mother was no +reason why she should now lie to him. Let him keep his money. She had +no intention of marrying; and even if she had she would not accept a +man who took her merely because she had a rich father. + +That the beautiful Fraeulein was her cousin did indeed seem strange to +her. At first she laughed at the idea, as if it were all a joke; then +she blushed crimson, no one knew why, stood up suddenly, made her +father a stiff courtesy, and hurried out of the room. + +With a sigh the baron left the old man's lodgings, to go and give his +old companion-in-arms, Schnetz, an account of this unsuccessful attempt +at reconciliation. + +Ever since the wedding evening the lieutenant, too, had felt himself in +a misanthropic and depressed state of mind, which kept him at home for +months and made him forget Paradise utterly; all the more readily +because it seemed to him that Jansen's presence there was necessary to +its very existence. His artistic talent was, after all, merely the +shadow cast by his character when it chanced to stand in a humorous +light. He had taken up with the artists because their society seemed to +him more tolerable than any other that came within the great dreariness +of his ordinary life, less because they created beautiful works than +because they were men who were capable of producing something that lay +beyond the pale of ordinary society, for which he had a profound +contempt. Even they did not escape his Thersites mood. But the fact +that he had discovered one among them at whom he found it absolutely +impossible to rail, and whom he had not the heart to ridicule even with +his black art, had inspired him with a strange feeling toward Jansen; +as though, if the whole decaying world should fall to pieces and leave +only this one man, nothing would really be lost, and the human race, +copied after this model, would be restored to a far higher grandeur. He +had really _loved_ this man, carefully as he tried to conceal such +"sentimentalities" from every one, especially from himself. And now he +sat alone again in his Timonian bitterness, cutting silhouettes in the +dark, and angry with all other men because all of them taken together +could not compensate him for the loss of this one. + +He received the baron exceedingly badly, listened to his account of his +unloving child with a sardonic grin, and assured him that the only +consolation he found in this whole muddle of a world was that there +were still a few beings left, even of the female sex, who would not let +themselves be fooled by fine words, and who spoke out just what they +thought. He advised him to go to Africa and shoot a lioness, and adopt +her brood, whereupon he immediately began to cut out the baron in black +paper as the nurse of a wildcat, that he might give him a memento to +take with him on his journey. + +For although Irene had not yet given him official permission, her uncle +had, nevertheless, determined to follow her. As matters now stood he no +longer dared to present himself even to the old countess, who, when he +called to deliver Irene's farewell, had preached him an edifying sermon +upon her incredible conduct, and had received his jesting answer with a +very bad grace. There was not the slightest prospect of hearing +anything further in regard to Felix here in the city. No one knew in +what direction the supposed duel had taken him. Thus the old habit of +being under his niece's thumb, and the uselessness and joylessness of +his further stay in Munich, drew the old baron toward the South; and +the harsh manner in which even Schnetz had suddenly turned upon him +made the parting very easy. + +He put the silhouette in his letter-case without a smile, shook his old +friend by the hand, and left him, expressing the hope that they might +meet again under a warmer sun. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + +Two other pillars of the Paradise Club had grown shaky, and were in no +condition to arrest its fall. + +Rosenbusch and Elfinger had both appeared at the first meeting which +took place after the unfortunate masquerade, but in a conspicuously +depressed mood, and neither so witty nor so grateful for the wit of +others as was usually the case with them. + +On the way home they confessed to one another that the thing had +outlived its day; even the wine to-night was much sourer than in the +good old times. + +Now, the truth is, it was the very same wine, but its flavor could not +overcome the bitter taste on the tongue of the drinkers; and in each +this bitter taste arose from exactly opposite causes. + +Elfinger's deep and unswerving fondness had really succeeded in +stealing away his little devotee's heart from her heavenly bridegroom. +At one of those afternoon services in the little church already +mentioned, she had with many tears allowed the confession to escape her +that his love was returned; adding, however, a saving clause, that once +more put all his hopes to naught, that she should not on this account +consider herself any the less bound by her former vow, particularly as +her father confessor had clearly proved to her that she would be +neither happy on earth nor blessed in heaven unless she renounced her +sinful love for a Lutheran, and especially for one who had once been an +actor. + +To Elfinger's most eloquent attempts at dissuasion, the poor child had +only replied by tears and shakes of the head, and had answered the long +letters which her lover sent to her almost daily, by nicely-written +little notes, not altogether free from orthographical blunders, in +which she besought him in the most touching terms not to make her heart +still heavier, but rather to move to some other lodgings and never to +meet her again. + +This correspondence had, of course, merely poured oil upon the fire, on +this as well as on the other side of the street. Nevertheless it really +did seem, after all, as though their love was not destined to overcome +the evil powers; and in his grief at this Elfinger began more and more +to lose his taste for the joys of Paradise, generally spending his +evenings at home, brooding over plans for the overthrow of the +priesthood--which resulted in his toiling through all the pamphlets +against the Vatican Council, and in his composing for some of the +smaller newspapers violent articles favoring the abolition of convents. + +But, while his fate was trembling in the balance, his next-door +neighbor was still worse off; and, sad to relate, solely because of the +incredible worldly-mindedness of his sweetheart. Through his trusty +ally, the servant-girl, he learned that the only son of a rich brewer, +from one of the smaller cities of the region, was paying his attentions +to her; and the pretty little witch appeared to have refrained from +doing any of those things by which even the most obedient daughter may +show her aversion to a hated suitor. Rosenbusch, whose soul still clung +fondly to his romantic elopement project, refused, at first, to believe +in such villainous treachery. But when his letters remained unanswered, +the last one indeed being returned unopened by the post, he fell into a +terrible passion, spent whole nights in composing the most insulting +poems against brewers' sons and Philistines' daughters, and gave +himself up more and more to the most extravagant melancholy, +misanthropy, and dislike for work. He began to neglect his person too +in the most terrible way, wore, as his daily clothing, that ample +dress-coat of Edward Rossel's, which the latter had formally made over +to him after the wedding evening; and over this a coarse red-and-blue +plaid shawl, and a cap which he had cut out himself from his old slouch +hat, whose rim had been nibbled and considerably diminished by his +white mice, one night when he had left the door of the cage open. + +It is true, he still went regularly to the studio and shut himself in +under the pretense of laboring at some great, mysterious work; yet he +never touched a brush all day long, but cowered over the stove, in +which he managed to keep up a wretched little fire made out of +fragments of old fences that he had picked up here and there. There he +sat wrapped in his shawl, an unlighted cigar in his mouth, spying +around among his antiquities, to see which piece he should next tear +from his soul and deliver to the shop-keepers. + +For a very considerable payment that he had to make had exhausted his +last penny of ready money. In his emotion over the martyrdom of the +faithful dog, Rosenbusch had determined to give Jansen a pleasant +surprise by ordering a grave-stone for the little mound in the garden, +bearing the following profound inscription: + + Hic jacet Homo, + _Nihil humani a se alienum putans_. + +It was merely a plain block of granite ornamented by a dog's head +cut in profile, and the letters were not even gilded. Yet the +stone-cutter's bill proved to be twice as large as the first estimate +of the cost; so that he had been obliged to sell the sword and scabbard +of a Walloon cuirassier, a rusty snaffle-bit of the time of the Swedish +war, and his last halberds; and besides this, to paint an oil-portrait +of the stone-cutter's wife, in order to complete this act of respect +without incurring any debts. + +He never said a word about his troubles to any of his friends, not even +to Elfinger, and at the dedication of the monument, over which he +presided, he conducted himself with so much ease and dignity that they +all thought he had really found some unknown patron who advanced him +money on his great new picture. The fact that he appeared in a +dress-coat, in spite of the bitter winter cold, was attributed to the +formality with which he insisted upon treating the whole affair. + +He himself tried hard at first to keep up his spirits. He composed an +account of the ceremony in his most feeling verses, and accompanied +them with a sketch of the grave-stone and other illustrations relating +to the dedication, and sent the document to Florence, where Jansen and +Julie were then sojourning. + +The postage for this parcel cost him his last kreutzer. That day it was +nine o'clock in the evening before he ate his dinner (on credit); and +even then he went to bed hungry. + +But, though he deceived all others by the smiling mien with which he +wrapped himself in his shawl and his love-sickness, there were two eyes +near him that he could not blind in this way. + +Those were the eyes of his neighbor Angelica, and they, too, no longer +saw the world in such a rosy light as that in which it had appeared at +Christmas. + +The necessity that was inborn in her nature, to passionately worship +something or other, and to give vent to her adoration in extravagant +terms, no longer found anything to feed on since the departure of the +happy pair. Indeed, she would have had a very poor opinion of herself +if, after having found in Jansen the ideal of a true artist, and in +Julie the quintessence of beauty, she had now been contented to take up +with anything of a lower grade. At first she tried hard to grow +sentimental over little Frances, and to transfer to the child the +enthusiasm she felt for its parents. But as this was attended with some +difficulty because of their living so far apart, as well as on account +of a certain reserve peculiar to the little creature, she gradually +withdrew from this also, and contented herself with visiting the child +every Sunday and making enthusiastic speeches about its talents to its +foster-mother. The sensible little woman always received them rather +coolly, partly because she disliked everything like gushing +compliments, and partly because she felt hurt that her own children +were completely overlooked. For this reason, and for this reason only, +she was not sorry when, toward spring, a letter came from Julie with +the request to bring the child to its parents in Florence as soon as +the state of the weather would permit. Unfortunately, she could not +come for the child herself as she had hoped, her doctor having +forbidden her "for important reasons" to take the journey. Still, she +had too great a yearning to see Frances to be able to wait any longer, +and she entreated the faithful foster-mother to make still another +sacrifice for her sake, and to take advantage of the occasion to get a +peep at their Italian home. + +Some fine presents were added for the other children and a letter for +Angelica, in which her friend heartily besought her to accompany the +child, and, if possible, to spend the whole summer with them. Jansen +seconded this invitation in a very kind postscript; and the money +enclosed for the traveling expenses was reckoned for three persons. + +It is needless to describe the feelings of this good soul as she read +this letter, and saw the prospect opened to her of seeing again with +her own eyes, and clasping again in her arms, all that she loved and +admired. With beating heart and glowing cheeks she sat for a good hour +motionless before her easel, and had never in all her life felt so +happily unhappy or so torn by conflicting wishes. When at last she had +clearly made up her mind to decline the proffered happiness, she +appeared, in her own eyes, such a subject for commiseration, +notwithstanding all her consciousness of heroic virtue, that she began +to weep bitterly, and did not heed how her tears fell upon a wreath of +flowers in water color that she had just painted, moistening them with +an all too natural dew. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + +In order to explain this, we must disclose a secret that our artist had +heretofore guarded carefully from every one--even from herself, as far +as such a thing was possible. + +The fate of the one man with whom this peaceable soul always stood on a +war-footing, and who, as it seemed, possessed none of all the qualities +by which one could generally win her love and admiration, had become of +such importance to her in the course of time, that her own weal and +woe, and even such a happiness as had just been offered her, became but +a secondary matter when compared with it. + +That violent hate can turn into burning love is a fact that is no +longer considered strange. But the transformation of a thoroughly +honest and obvious contempt into the exact opposite, without the object +of these conflicting feelings having changed especially himself, must +ever remain a difficult riddle to solve. This was especially the case +because this contempt for her neighbor was not directed against his +character as an artist and a man, of whose good qualities she might in +time have become more clearly convinced, but rested solely on the +contradiction in their characters, which appeared to her to have been +completely reversed in their cases from what Nature had intended. + +Little of the Amazon as there was about her, she nevertheless felt +herself, as compared with Rosenbusch, the stronger, more resolute and +more manly of the two; and, since devotion to something higher and +stronger was a chief necessity of her nature, nothing would have struck +her as more absurd than that this flute-playing, verse-scribbling +art-colleague of hers, who decked himself out in silk and satin like a +bearded girl, could ever become dangerous to her peace of mind. + +Consequently, when she found that ever since that stolen kiss on +Christmas night, innocent though it was, the picture of the robber rose +up before her oftener than before, each time causing a certain ashamed +surprise to creep over her virgin heart, she fought against this +weakness with all her power, and took pains to exaggerate, in her own +mind, the faults and absurdities of this gay deceiver. But, in doing +so, she was obliged to occupy her thoughts with him to an uncommon +extent, and she often caught herself studying his praiseworthy +qualities with far greater fondness than his laughable ones. +Unfortunately, she had plenty of spare time for these studies; for, as +Schnetz expressed it, she was enjoying a vacation from idolatry since +Jansen's and Julie's departure. And, finally, what contributed as much +as anything else to make her heart more tender, was the just fear that +things were going badly with her neighbor, and might end seriously for +him some fine day, unless some one came to his aid. + +She positively breathed easier when she discovered that he was hungry +and cold, and began quite cheerfully to revolve in her mind how she +could best assist him. + +She took good care to say nothing about it to his friends. To her alone +he should owe his rescue, and that without having the slightest +suspicion of it. She herself could hardly be said to be swimming in +luxury; that which she earned was just sufficient to carry her through +the world respectably; for she had the greatest horror of anything in +her art that had a taint of fraud about it, and was exceedingly +conscientious with regard to such matters. More than once she had taken +back a picture, with which the person who had ordered it expressed +himself as quite content, merely because it did not satisfy herself. + +But the suspiciously jolly air with which Rosenbusch met her on the +stairs, the ominous stillness next door, where the stove no longer sang +its morning song, nor the flute summoned the mice to the dance, so cut +her to the heart, that she would not have hesitated even to have got +into debt, if by so doing she could have saved her friend from +bankruptcy. + +It was a sunny morning in April; she had accompanied little Frances and +her foster-mother to the station, and had thus given up the last thing +she had to exercise her sentimental devotion upon; and now she walked +slowly to her studio, firmly determined to seek consolation in her art. +But on arriving up stairs, where a fresh canvas was already awaiting +her, she made a mistake in the door, and, instead of going into her own +workshop, knocked at the battle-painter's, of whom she had not caught a +glimpse for several days. + +Rosenbusch knew her knock well. He always declared it was a pity she +did not play on the piano, she had such an excellent touch. However, he +did not seem inclined to let her in; at all events she had to knock +three times, and to call out that it was no use, he needn't pretend any +longer, she had seen him through the keyhole sitting there, and must +come in for ten minutes as she had an order for him; then, at last, he +slowly got up, crept to the door, sighing, and drew back the bolt. + +As she entered she cast a stolen look at the bare walls of the room, +that was as damp and chilly as a cellar, and at its miserable occupant, +who had folded his shawl tight about his body just as a beetle does his +wings in a rainstorm, and, with his pinched, half-starved looking +little nose, was making a wretched attempt to look chipper and pleased. + +"What are you making such an _ecce homo_ face for?" she said, in her +brusquest tone, which now stood her in good stead in concealing her +emotion. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Herr von Rosenbusch, to +sit here in a corner and mope, this heavenly weather. Besides, it's so +cold here that the oil would freeze on one's brush. But I forget, you +are not doing any painting now. You have another acute attack of your +chronic laziness--or are you sick?" + +"You are mistaken, honored patroness," said Rosenbusch, in his silver +tenor, which now, however, sounded a little cracked. "I am quite well, +with the exception of a certain nervousness that is often to be found +among artists; atrophy of the _nervus rerum_, the men of science call +it. Besides, I am not sitting here so idle as you perhaps imagine; I am +working away at my great picture, having accustomed myself of late to +first complete the picture in my head, down to the last light effect on +the nostrils of a pack-horse. In this way you save an incredible deal +of color that you would otherwise have wasted in constant scratching +out. You ought to try it, Angelica." + +"Thank you. Every one has his manner, and my ideas never come to me +until I see them first upon the canvas. But listen, Rosenbusch, does +this dry mental painting take up all your time? Couldn't you steal a +few hours in the day for outside work? A young officer's widow +has given me an order for a portrait of her husband, who fell at +Kissingen, to be inclosed in a wreath of laurels, cypresses, and +passion-flowers--between ourselves, a regular sampler idea. Only think +of it: the departed one on horseback, in the background the city; and +around it all a wreath, like onions about a dish of sauerkraut and +sausages. I let fall a few hints, as to whether it would not look +better, perhaps, if we should leave out the wreath, or at most paint in +the bust of the deceased? But no, it would not do to leave out the +horse, he might almost have been said to have been one of the family, +the widow declared--a beautiful bay stallion with a white star; and he +had also died in consequence of a wound. As the times are bad and the +lady did not find the price I asked any too high, I accepted the +commission. I immediately said to myself, it is nonsense; the horses +that you paint look a good deal like hippopotamuses, so you can't get +it done without Rosenbusch's help; and as he is now at work on his +great picture--but still, as you are only painting it in your head--" + +She turned away, so that he should not see the sly look that flashed +over her round face. But, in his wretched state of body and mind, all +his sharpness had left him. + +"You know, Angelica," said he, "that if I were painting the battles of +Alexander, I would always have time enough left for you. Besides, one +nag won't be anything of a job. I shall paint him with wide-spread +nostrils snuffing at the wreath, as though the laurels that beckoned to +his master had excited his own appetite. Symbolical allusions like that +can give an interesting air even to the most foolish picture." + +"Will you have the goodness to dispense with all your jokes? The matter +is serious, the picture is to be placed on a sort of household altar in +the widow's sleeping-chamber, and a night-lamp is to be kept constantly +burning before it. So, if you will undertake to do the figures, +including, of course, the portrait of the officer--a photograph of the +horse is also to be sent to me to-day--I will paint a wreath around +them, and we will go shares in the fame and money." + +She named twice the sum she had asked. For she was determined to let +him have the whole, which would be no inconsiderable sum for him in his +present state. But to her alarm he did not show the slightest joy at +this unhoped-for income. + +"My dear friend," he said, "the two departed ones shall be painted, and +I promise you they shall bear as close a resemblance to a fallen hero +and a defunct war-horse as any sorrowing widow could possibly wish. I +will also, if you insist upon it, paint my monogram on the nag's +saddle-cloth, so that we may figure together in art-history, like +Rubens and Blumenbreughel. But you alone must have the money. I will +never consent to be paid in vile lucre for acts of friendship, +especially toward a lady, and above all toward an honored patroness and +neighbor. And, by the way, we can commence at once; I have come to a +halt in my composition--particularly as I have a cold in my head--and +as one finally gets quite confused merely from the number of good +thoughts that come to him--therefore, if you please--" + +He approached with arm gracefully bent, in order to escort her over to +her studio. + +Angelica knew him well enough to feel sure that nothing in the world +would shake him in the resolution he had taken; and, since everything +that was chivalrous in his character flattered her hidden liking, she +made no attempt to dissuade him. She would find some way of +recompensing him for his trouble without offending his sense of +courtesy, and a great deal had already been won in inducing him to go +to work again and to come into a heated room. + +There, to be sure, he was obliged to take off his shawl and appear in +the unlucky dress-coat which, having been intended for Rossel's rounded +proportions, hung very loosely about his shrunken limbs. However, he +was not in the least embarrassed by this, but proceeded to explain to +his friend, with the greatest seriousness, the advantage of having +one's clothes too large. In the summer they were airy, for they caught +the wind; in the winter they retained a larger supply of warm air--a +movable wadding, as it were, between the body and the cloth--while they +were much warmer in an unheated room, especially when covered by a +shawl, on account of their having so much more material. He delivered +this lecture over a cup of tea which Angelica had prepared for him, and +which evidently restored to his inner man the warmth he had so long +been without. As he was never more active than when he was working for +others, the rough sketch of the equestrian portrait was completed in a +few hours, and so skillfully set in Angelica's border of flowers that, +as she expressed it, the whole picture looked "quite crazy enough," and +they were able to proceed at once to the shading. + +Over this common labor, that afforded them both great pleasure and gave +occasion for innumerable jests, the forenoon had slipped away unheeded. +Angelica proposed to take her dinner in her studio to-day, against +which proposition Rosenbusch had nothing to object. She dispatched the +janitor with a few secret commissions, and in a short time had +improvised such an excellent meal that Rosenbusch burst out in great +enthusiasm. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + +This was the first day for many weeks on which he had felt warm, and as +if he had enough to eat. Consequently he only made a few weak protests +when Angelica insisted upon furnishing him his meals so long as their +common labor lasted, and even made as though he did not notice that she +acted like a very Penelope, and again and again put off the completion +of the work under one pretext or another. However, the picture was +finished at last, and Rosenbusch, who had in the mean while grown quite +plump, would have been obliged to fall back again on his fasting and +brooding, had not his friend taken care to provide for him without his +knowledge. + +She succeeded in bringing it about that all the friends of the +inconsolable widow became possessed by a desire to have the effigy of +their dead or living husbands, done in the same way. Thus it happened +that our battle-painter was all at once completely overwhelmed with +orders for equestrian portraits, whereat he flew into a great passion, +for the modern uniforms were very much at variance with his Wouverman +tendencies. However, there were always the horses to fall back on, and +upon these he could labor with a good conscience, though he was always +complaining that the modern prejudices in regard to horse-breeding had +exterminated the majestic Flemish and Burgundian breeds. He painted +away at them with great zeal, "for his meals," as he expressed it, and +it was only when the approach of twilight forced him to leave off that +he allowed himself the pleasure of going round to his neighbors, and +inveighing against this servile labor to which his great work was being +sacrificed. + +Angelica never replied to his complaints by a single word. She had said +once for all that she thought there was nothing unworthy in his +painting military portraits by the dozen, provided he could get, +respectable prices for them; and in support of this she referred him to +some famous examples. But, in order that she might get him to work +again upon some larger task, she persuaded the young widow to give him +an order for the bombardment of Kissingen, at which her husband had +fallen. + +But in this case she had reckoned without her host. He absolutely +refused to paint so prosaic an affair as the bombardment of a modern +city, by modern troops who lay under cover and fired their cannon +unseen. Besides, he had not been present at the affair. Had he taken +part in person at the battle of Luetzen? asked Angelica, maliciously. +No; but that was not a parallel case at all. Everybody would like to +have been present at such a glorious hand-to-hand fight as that, and +would, therefore, feel grateful to the artist who did his best to fix +on canvas the rearing chargers, the trumpeters blowing their bugles, +and the foot soldiers charging and dealing blows to right and left with +all their might. Modern battles, on the other hand, showed to quite as +much advantage on the maps of the general staff, where one could follow +on the table the scientifically-planned moves and countermoves by +geometrical lines and different-colored little flags. + +He could not be dissuaded from this, for on some subjects even +Angelica's influence over him had its limits. But the more she scolded +him for his obstinacy, and the more unsparing she was of her forcible +expressions, the better pleased she was at heart that he showed himself +so independent, so manly, and so unreasonable; and she often had hard +work to keep from falling out of her _role_ and throwing her arms +around his neck. + +She was less satisfied with the persistency with which he clung to his +quiet melancholy, even after the beautiful weather had come, and there +was no longer any lack of money, and his loose dress-coat had long +since been exchanged for a natty summer jacket. She attributed this +dejection of one who was generally so light-hearted to his affair with +the beautiful Nanny, of which, contrary to his habit, he never spoke to +her, but which, as she knew, had not turned out very satisfactorily. +And so for many a day she sat dejectedly before her easel, listening to +catch the slightest sound from her friend's silent studio, where, even +now, the flute gave forth no music; while from the deserted rooms below +no sound of mallet and chisel nor any other sound of life reached her +ear. + +In the mean while, as we have said, summer had come. Rossel had invited +old Schoepf and his granddaughter to his villa on the lake. But as the +old man did not think it would be just the thing for him to go and live +with the girl under a bachelor's roof, and as she herself would not +listen to the proposal for a moment, our "Fat Rossel" also remained in +town, an arrangement, by-the-way, that was far more agreeable to him. +Kohle alone took up his quarters with old Katie, in order to paint his +allegory of Venus on the wall. The foster-mother had returned from +Florence with a whole trunkful of articles of art and ornament for +Angelica, and a thousand greetings from the happy pair. She was never +tired of telling about the beautiful life the two were leading: how +Herr Jansen had begun some wonderful new works; how the Frenchmen and +Englishmen had gone wild over them; and how happy little Frances was +with her beautiful mamma. She had also seen the baron and Irene, but +nothing had as yet been heard of the young baron. + +These accounts had greatly excited the good soul of our friend. Long +after the cheerful little woman had gone, Angelica sat at the table on +which she had spread out Julie's presents, the photographs taken from +the pictures of the Tribuna, the mosaic brooch and the beautiful silks, +and sadly reflected whether she would not have done better if she had +crossed the Alps when she was asked, instead of staying here at home +and torturing her soul with the pangs of a hopeless love. + +Just then she heard Rosenbusch rush whistling upstairs with unusual +haste. Immediately after he entered her studio. His face had the same +thoughtless, dare-devil expression that it used to have in his most +flourishing days, when he still wore his violet-velvet coat. + +"What news do you bring, Rosenbusch?" asked the painter, who was as +little pleased with his jollity as she had been before with his +dejection. "You look as if you had just made a great find, a genuine +Wouverman at some salt-dealer's, or the red cloth of which Countess +Terzky dreamed in Eger. Well?" + +"My honored friend," he remonstrated, "you wrong me, as usual. What I +bring is not antiquities, but two very important items of news, a +serious and a comic one. Which do you wish to hear first?" + +"First the serious one. You alarm me, Rosenbusch. Why, you really look +quite solemn." + +"It is a devilish serious matter; there is war, real, genuine war, +though the whole thing sounds so absurd that, in spite of the +declaration by France that you can read in all the papers, one feels +almost tempted to bet that it is a newspaper hoax. What do you say now, +Angelica? Is that piece of news serious enough for you?" + +"Gracious heavens!" cried Angelica, "what an absurdity!" + +"That is a very wise remark of yours, my respected friend; but it can't +be helped; on account of just such absurdities the most sensible men +have lost their lives and whole nations their blood and treasure. To be +sure, there must be wars, else how would the battle-painters live? +However, you know my sentiments on that subject. Considering the +present system of artillery battles and rapid firing, you may be sure +it isn't for the sake of art that I am going." + +"You going to the war? You don't know what you are talking about, +Rosenbusch! You a warrior and hero? That is undoubtedly your second +item of news, the comic one, I mean." + +"You are again mistaken, and of course to my disadvantage, my dear +patroness. The second item has nothing whatever to do with the first; +on the contrary, if we must regard the first as a public calamity, we +can call the second a joyful private occurrence: Fraeulein Nanny and +Herr Franz Xavier Kiederhuber are announced as engaged; the wedding is +to take place in three weeks." + +His face had not lost its indifferent expression while he spoke these +words, but yet there was something about his voice as if everything +were not yet quite right. + +"My dear friend," she said, at last. "I have been so little _au +courant_ of your affairs of the heart for the last few months, that I +really do not know whether I ought to congratulate you or to assure you +of my silent sympathy, I must tell you frankly, though, that of all +your lovesick moods I never could understand this passion of yours for +that insignificant, coquettish, and not particularly attractive little +doll--" (Even now, when the faithless one had ceased to be dangerous, +Angelica's jealousy vented itself in this harsh criticism.) "And now +for your grief at having found out such a little hypocrite to drive you +into the jaws of a park of artillery, belching forth death and +destruction--" + +"It isn't that at all," he interrupted, with a heavy sigh. "It isn't +any sardonic mood that makes me think this vengeance of fate absurd. +For all I care she may make her brewer's son happy, and prefer his beer +and brewery horses to my oil and chargers. That unfortunate love of +mine has long ceased to be anything but a spectre, a mere phantom, as +is shown most clearly by the verses I have composed about it. Elfinger +told me to my face long ago: 'You don't love her at all; the stronger +the love, the weaker the love poems, and yours are unusually good this +time!' Nevertheless, Angelica, you are not altogether wrong in +supposing that I am going off to the war on account of an unhappy +passion. It is the same hopeless affection that has robbed me of my +usual good spirits for some time past. But what's the odds? The powder +that is to remedy this folly has been invented at last!" + +"_Another_ unhappy love affair? Oh, you wretch! I could almost take +sides with the beautiful Nanny; she must have found out what a +butterfly with blue-velvet wings was fluttering around her!" + +"Well, whether what she did was right or wrong, she certainly conferred +a great favor upon us both by acting as she did. But, just because I +tried to retain my constancy as long as I possibly could, I grew +melancholy when I found how much difficulty I had in feeling the +slightest pain at the faithlessness of this young daughter of the +Philistines--of this Delilah for whom I once out off my beard and +flowing locks. And even though I have been perhaps unduly led, by my +sense of justice, to do homage to different styles of beauty at the +same time or in rapid succession--I am punished now more cruelly than I +have deserved. However, there is no help for it. It is to be hoped it +won't last long. It is true that as volunteer nurses, for as such we +are going to report ourselves (for Elfinger can't stand it any longer +either), we shan't at once get into the heaviest fire; and of course no +one can expect for a moment that we would enter as privates at this +late day, and go through a course of drill, and then follow after the +rest when the sport is all over. But during the battle, when all is +confusion, when human beings are bowled down like lead soldiers, +perhaps there will be a stray bullet for one of us--" + +"Don't talk in that godless way, Rosenbusch! It is very noble and brave +of you to want to go with the rest; it certainly does you honor. But, +because it is such a holy cause, do leave your jests behind you; forget +'all lighter trifling, dalliance sweet,' and--and when you are in the +field--and really--" + +She suddenly broke off. The thought that he was going to leave her, +that he would be surrounded by dangers and might stand in need of her +help, came over her with such force that she had all she could do to +restrain her tears. + +He was gazing at the ground with a sad face, and had not noticed her +emotion. + +"You are in one of your jesting moods again," he said, staring at a +large photograph of the Cellini "Perseus." "And I willingly give you +permission to ridicule all my former 'amours and courtesies,' and to +look upon them as Ariostian sports, springing from pure love of +adventure. But, you shall not lay hand on this, my last and lasting +passion. It is of a very different calibre; and, though I dare not +mention its name to you, I am sure you would yourself admit that this +flame has nothing in common with the Nannies, Annies, and Barbaras that +I once loved. But I won't be such a fool as to take you into my +confidence. Then, indeed, you would let out upon me the vials of your +raillery, and I am anxious that we should part good friends." + +"You speak in riddles, Rosenbusch. If you really should lose your +reason in a sensible way--I mean over a subject that is worth the +trouble--why should I make fun of you?" + +"Because--but no, it is useless to say any more about it. Do tell me, +for Heaven's sake! would you have believed this Monsieur Ollivier to +have been capable of such a vile performance, such a piece of silly +defiance--like a corps-student 'renowning it?' A man that only a little +while ago--" + +"No dodging, Herr von Rosebud. You have told me too much for you to try +and put a seal on your lips now. As a woman, and as your true, sincere +friend, it is not only my right but my duty to be curious. Out with +it--who is this latest flame?--and if I can aid you by word or deed--" + +Her voice grew unsteady again. She did not dare to look at him. He, +too, let his eyes wander around the studio in another direction. + +"If you positively insist upon knowing," he stammered, at last--"and, +after all, there's nothing to be lost or gained by my telling you--the +person of whom I speak is the only female being to whose peace of mind +I can't imagine myself in any way dangerous--I couldn't imagine it even +in a dream. It is impossible for her to feel toward me either love or +hate. She has given me unmistakable proof of this--partly by constantly +scolding, railing, and mocking at me, partly by the kindest and most +brotherly friendship--such as one only shows to a person when one is +absolutely certain that one can never fall in love with him. I ought to +have been warned by this, and have taken better care of my heart. But, +just because such a relation was quite new to me, I fell into it +blindfold, and now I am plunged up to my ears in the most hopeless, +most undying, and most imprudent passion. There you have my confession. +I think you will dispense with my mentioning to you the name of the +person in question. But I won't detain you longer. I see you have your +palette ready to go to work. _Adieu!_" + +He turned toward the door. But he had not crossed the threshold when +his name reached his ear--and his heart, too, because of the unusually +tender tone in which it was pronounced. He stood as if rooted to the +spot, and waited to hear what more the voice would say. But he had to +wait a good while, so he spent the intervening time in observing the +wall, which separated this room from his own, and which was large +enough to easily admit of a door being cut through. + +"Dear Rosenbusch," the voice began again, at last, eyen a little more +tenderly than before. "What you have said is so new, so entirely +unexpected to me--and then, again, so confusing--come, let us talk +about it like a couple of sensible people and good comrades--" + +He again made a movement as though he were going. The beginning did not +strike him as being particularly consoling. "Sensible discussion and +good-fellowship!"--if she had nothing better than that to offer him-- + +"No," she continued; "hear me out, first. You are always so hasty, +Rosenbusch! If you will only promise me not to be offended at anything +I say--for I would like to be perfectly frank. Will you promise me?" + +He nodded rapidly three times in succession, and gave her an almost +timid look; and then hastily looked down again. In the midst of her own +confusion and embarrassment she could not help smiling at the shy, +penitent air of one who was usually such a self-confident lady-killer. + +"I can't deny," she said, "that in the first part of our acquaintance +I really did not think much of you; you were--pardon me for saying +it--rather disagreeable than dangerous to me. The very name of +Rosenbusch sounds so perfumed and sentimental--" + +"Well!" he ventured to interpose, "Minna Engelken is also a devilish +sweet name!" + +"But, still, it doesn't sound so Jewish. I took you for a Jew in +disguise." + +"We have been baptized these hundred years, and my grandmother came +from a Christian family, and was a Fraeulein Fliedermueller." + +"Then, besides, I found you too--how shall I say?--too 'pretty' for a +man, and the others all said you were amiable. Pretty and amiable men +have always been intolerable to me. They are generally conscious of it, +and contemplate themselves in the glass at moments when they are not +watched, and comb their beard and even their eyebrows. And all the +while they care for no one but themselves; and, if they pretend to grow +sentimental over a woman, it is done in such a way that the unfortunate +person thus favored would rather receive a box on the ear than such +homage, if her heart is in the right place. Don't get angry, +Rosenbusch; it isn't your fault that you have such a pretty little nose +and are so amiable--for that you really are. But you will understand; +an old girl who is no longer pretty, and who never was considered +amiable--" + +"Oh, Angelica!--" + +"No, you mustn't interrupt me. It would be very stupid of me if I were +not wise enough to know how I look, and what impression I make upon +people after having had nearly thirty years in which to make my own +acquaintance. How old are you, Rosenbusch?" + +"I shall be thirty-one on the fifth of August." + +"Then there is scarcely thirteen months difference between us. Don't +you see, that in itself is an objection? But to proceed: your +flute-playing, your white mice, your many love-affairs; can you blame +me for looking upon you as a man who was not in the slightest degree +dangerous--to me, at least? I had formed a very different idea of the +man who was to win my heart, and, if I chanced to find such a one, I +knew at once that it would be an unfortunate affair if I regarded the +matter seriously. For such men want very different wives, and in that +they are quite right. So I intrenched my poor soul behind my sense of +humor, and, as you see, that was both a good and a bad thing to do; +good, because it has helped me over many a bitter hour; bad, because it +made me appear even less amiable than I really am at bottom. A woman +who has humor, who does not weigh each of her words--where are the men +who still believe that a good, womanly heart lies behind it all? The +conceited men, like yourself, for instance, are especially repelled by +such a one. Unless we cower in sweet bashfulness before your great +words and beards, we are not worthy to be loved by your great souls. +For that reason I was truly never more astonished by anything than by +what you have just said to me. It is true, that since--well, for some +time past I will say--I have gained a very different opinion of you; it +is my duty to confess this to you after having so candidly told you the +rest to your face. I have learned to esteem you highly, Rosenbusch; +I--I even believe I must make use of a stronger expression; I have +conceived a hearty love and affection for you--no, you mustn't +interrupt me by a single word, it must all come out first. Do you know, +on that night when you behaved so naughtily--you recollect it, don't +you?--you took a liberty which you regarded merely as the toll of +gallantry, but which a girl who has any respect for herself--though I +have no prudish notions about such things when people are really in +love with one another--and that was it that made me feel so badly, +because you took such a liberty without really loving me; and I believe +I didn't close an eye half that night, and that I shed many secret +tears, because--because, do what I would, I couldn't be angry with you +for it!" + +"Angelica!" he cried, eagerly, approaching to seize her hand, which, +however, she instantly drew back. "Why do you speak this way, if you +will not make me happy--if you will not even let me kiss your hand? No, +I won't be kept from speaking any longer; for, no matter how much about +my bad qualities you may still have on your conscience, you can +no longer deny that you like me, that you think well of me; and +that is the main thing and a thousand times better than I ever dared +to hope. Dearest, best Angelica, only try and believe that even a +thirty-one-year-old battle-painter can improve. I will stop up my flute +with lead, I will give my mice strychnine in a piece of Swiss cheese, +and will wear a covering over my nose so that the children shall run +away at sight of me. And, finally, in regard to my love-affairs--do you +really believe I am so wanting in taste, to say nothing of all nobler +motives, as to have eyes for such every-day doll-faces, after having +found in your countenance the image of all love and goodness, of all +wisdom and grace?" + +In the mean while he got possession of one of her hands and pressed +it so earnestly, at the same time gazing into her face with such +true-hearted, mischievous eyes, that she grew quite red and came very +near losing her firmness. However, she quickly recovered herself again +and said: + +"You are a truly dangerous man, Rosenbusch. I begin to realize that now +from my own experience. If I did not call to my aid all the little +sense and self-consciousness I possess, we should now fall into one +another's arms, and ruin would take its course. One more name would +stand on your list; you would go to the war, and there, in the great +events that go to make up the history of the world, you would find the +very best excuse for letting this little affair of the heart drop +completely out of your memory. No, my friend, I think too much of +myself for that. I confidently believe that my respected person has +merely become of importance in your eyes, because I have heretofore +withstood your amiability in a perfectly incomprehensible way. As soon +as you should become convinced that I too am only a weak woman, I +should become a matter of great indifference to you. Now, it is true, +my stupid honesty has prevented me from concealing this from you; but I +don't regard myself as hopelessly lost even yet. Now, if you go to the +war, we shall both be equally well off. We shall both have ample time +and opportunity for forgetting one another. I, to be sure, here alone +in this deathly quiet house, where I hear nothing but the squeak of +your mice--I shall have somewhat the harder time. But perhaps some +other dangerous youth will move into your quarters--a dark-complexioned +Hungarian or Pole--I have always had a partiality for brunettes, and +for that reason alone it is a great mistake for me to love you with +your red beard." + +She had to turn her head away, it was impossible for her to conceal her +emotion any longer by forced jests. She stealthily pressed her curls +against her overflowing eyes, but, nevertheless, she shook her head +when he put his arm around her and drew her to his breast. + +"No, no!" she whispered; "I don't believe it even now. You shall see it +will turn out badly. It's so silly of my stupid tears to give the lie +to my wisest words; and then, too, my foolish heart, that ought to be +old enough not to let itself be deluded--" + + * * * * * + +On the evening of the same day Angelica wrote a long letter to Julie. + +After she had relieved her heart of a thousand things that concerned +her friend alone, and had arrived at the end of the twelfth page, she +finally summoned up all her courage, took a fresh sheet, and wrote the +following postscript: + +"To tell you the truth, I was going to be so cowardly and deceitful as +to send off this letter without telling you of the great event of this +day. I don't mean the declaration of war by France, which will be an +old story by the time this letter comes into your hands, but the +offensive and defensive alliance that I have to-day concluded. With +whom, I should very much prefer you should guess for yourself. But as +it will be too long for me to wait before I can learn whether you have +guessed rightly or not--and as one is said to lose in shrewdness what +one gains in happiness--I will state at once that the artful man +who has surprised my well-known firmness and prudence is no other +than--Rosenbusch. I hope you are not so far-sighted as to see that in +making this confession I blush to such an extent as to do all honor to +my future name--though my rosiness is of a somewhat faded sort. Oh, +dearest! what is our heart? It really seems as though that inexplicable +and irresponsible something within us that controls the blood in its +course and makes the hand cold or warm if we place it in that of +another, exists almost independently of all those other forces which +govern that little world we call the individual. How often have I made +this dear fellow-creature the butt of my merciless sallies! How often, +when alone with you, have I caricatured his weaknesses and human +frailties--to be sure he has changed very much since you last +saw him--and made merry over this rat-catcher with his flute and +blue-velvet coat! And all the while my heart sat in its cell as still +as a mouse and made no movement; nay, even my conscience did not rebel +at the godless way in which I denied that love we are commanded to feel +toward our fellow-creatures. And now all of a sudden-- + + 'Frailty, thy name is woman!' + +Oh, dearest! do promise me to forget all my malicious sayings just as +quickly as possible, and to believe that I had long been convinced of +the critical state of my heart, even before this bad man confessed his +feelings to me. I did not write you anything about it, because I +naturally regarded the matter as a wretched piece of stupidity on the +part of this above-mentioned heart, and even now I can't quite believe +in it. You know I never was very lucky in regard to real happiness. And +for that reason I haven't much faith even now; if it is true that he +loves me to distraction, as he declares he does, I feel convinced I +shan't get any enjoyment out of it, and he will be sure to get killed, +for he is going off to the war as a volunteer nurse. And yet I have not +tried to dissuade him from taking this manly step. You remember that my +chief objection to him was that he wasn't quite manly enough. And now, +after all, his love is to be put to the test of fire, and we shall see +whether he will bring it home uninjured from the smoke and horror of +battle! How shall I bear the separation! I shall paint a few poor +pictures and get a few gray hairs, and then when he comes back he will +realize clearly what a mistake he has made. But, as God wills! I'll +bear it quietly. The times are so great, who has the right to think of +his or her poor person? All is enthusiasm; Elfinger is going too (his +little nun seems to have driven him to desperation), and, what will +rejoice you, Schnetz has joined his old regiment again, and looks upon +life like a new man. It touched me to hear our good Kohle, who paid me +a visit this morning, curse his poor health, which shut him out from +all the hardships of war. He has designed a splendid tableau: Germania +on the summit of the Lurlei rock, from which she has cast down the +enchantress in order to excite all her sons to battle against the enemy +by her song of triumph. Rossel, who, of course, would be perfectly +useless away from his rocking-chair, has at least subscribed a thousand +gulden for the benefit of the wounded. Every one according to his +strength. I shall make lint of my paint rags, and sacrifice my heart's +blood for the cause in another way. Farewell! Rejoice in your +unclouded, paradisaical, peaceful life in the beautiful South; and +write to me soon, dearest, beautifullest, happiest, only sister mine! +Rosenbusch wishes to be remembered. A fortnight more--and then in this +whole house, where so many dear ones have lived and labored, there will +beat but one lonely heart--that of your Angelica." + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + +When that old earth-shaker Vesuvius grows tired of his peaceful +slumbers and, breaking out into sudden fury, lights up the night far +and wide with his flaming torch, till all around is bathed in purple-- + + "In Capri the Marina + And Naples Day and Mergellina," + +--not only is the hut of the poorest vintager reddened by the terrible +glow, but, in the yard behind, the water bubbles in the well, and a man +skilled in reading the signs can estimate the strength of the eruption +from the boiling and steaming of this narrow, walled-up fountain with +as much accuracy as from the surf of the open sea, that washes the foot +of the buried cities. + +So, too, are the changes of that light, which streams from those +immortal deeds and sufferings that move the world, reflected in the +lives of humble mortals; and it would be no slight task to trace out +the signs of such a time not merely on the battle-field, but in the +homes and huts of those who were left behind. + +A psychological study of war, such as we may expect from some one +better fitted for the task, will have to bring out this reverse side of +the medal sharply and clearly. But the novel steps back modestly when +its elder brother, the epic, in glittering armor and with clang of +arms, enters once more upon the world's arena. Where every individual +lot was so completely merged in the fate of the nation, we should give +the reader but a poor idea of our friends if we showed them as busy +with themselves, their personal aims, duties and interests. That each +of them had proved himself ready, according to his manner and ability, +Angelica's letter has already shown us. Therefore we are all the more +sorry that the excellent writer herself did not quite rise to the level +of the time. + +It is true it never occurred to her to complain that the Eden-like +condition of a life devoted to art, and removed from all worldly +turmoil--where beauty is the highest aim of all striving, and that +alone has the right to existence which is perfect in itself--had +suddenly been destroyed, and had given place to a hard, merciless +reality. Upon the whole she had a warm appreciation of the magnitude of +the great historical issue at stake, and it filled her with joyful +enthusiasm to see how earnestly all who were connected with her, as +well as the whole people, felt the force of the old proverb that one +should make a virtue of necessity. + +Yet in spite of all this her heart, usually so brave, was unable to +preserve this heroic spirit, that sustained many a weaker one, through +the long time of trial. + +Even when taking leaving of Rosenbusch she had shown herself strong. +She felt it her duty not to make heavy her parting lover's heart, but +to give him, in her own person, an example of the way one should +sacrifice one's dearest wishes on the altar of the fatherland, with +smiling magnanimity. But this "_P[oe]te, non dolet_" revenged itself +upon her. Scarcely was she alone, when she reproached herself for +having pretended an unwomanly hardness and severity that was calculated +to frighten away her sensitive friend, rather than to bring him nearer +to her. She immediately wrote him a long letter, in which, for the +first time, she confessed her great love for him without reserve; +beseeching him in the most moving terms not to expose his life +recklessly, sending him all her prescriptions for rheumatism and chafed +feet, and entreating him to write to her at least once a week. + +These weekly letters of his were now the only thing for which she +seemed to live, aside from the mere mechanical activity with which she +devoted herself to works of charity in the women's societies and on her +own account. She never appeared among her friends except on those +occasions when she had just received one of these letters from the +front, and then she came running to old Schoepf, her cheeks glowing +with joy, to tell him the latest news about Rosenbusch and Elfinger, +and to have pointed out to her, on the special map that Rossel had +given the old man, the exact spot where her lover must now be. But for +everything else she showed but slight interest, just as she seemed to +have completely lost her humor. + +She was only amusing when she came to speak about the _francs tireurs_ +and the treachery of the native inhabitants, by whom she was +perpetually imagining her lover attacked, plundered, maltreated, or +even killed, in spite of the red cross which she had made and sewed on +his coat-sleeve with her own hands. On these occasions she indulged +in such droll maledictions upon the Gallic national character, +and recounted such incredible instances of her own cowardice and +ghost-seeing, especially at night, that she finally had to join in with +the laughter of the others, going home again with her heart somewhat +lightened. + +During all this war time she did not touch a brush. As nobody cared for +flower pictures, it was evidently a saving for her to cut up her canvas +and make use of it for sewing purposes, rather than to waste oil colors +on it. + +She never allowed any of the camp letters that her tender-hearted lover +wrote her to be seen by any one else. They were love-letters, she said, +and not newspapers, and belonged to her alone. Once only did she +prevail upon her heart to part with one, in order to give her friend in +Florence a pleasant Christmas surprise, for Julie knew that she could +give away nothing in the world that was dearer to her than such a token +of life and love from the hand of her betrothed. She accounted to Julie +for the fact that this epistle, a comic rhymed affair in Rosenbusch's +old light-hearted manner, sounded less tender than the others, by +explaining that it was accompanied by an extra sheet in prose, which +dealt with the intimate affairs of the heart. True to the profound +saying of Elfinger--"The stronger the love, the weaker the verses"--our +lover had taken good care not to compose his actual love-letters in +rhyme, for which Angelica felt grateful to him in her soul. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + +The hard war winter was over; the spring had brought peace and the +birth of a new German Empire; and midsummer saw the victorious host +returning to its home. + +It is just two years since that day when our story began. Once more it +is hot and still in the Theresienwiese, so still that a flute concerto +from the window of the studio building could be heard for a long +distance around. But the flute is silent. Moreover, although it is a +weekday, a Sunday calm hangs over the country round about. No roll of +carriages is heard, and no people are seen hurrying busily through the +streets of the suburb. Yet the great bronze maiden before the +Ruhmeshalle does not seem surprised at this loneliness and quiet. It is +true, without raising herself on tiptoe, she can look away over the +houses of the city, to the gate on which stands a smaller likeness of +herself in a chariot of victory, drawn by four stately lions with +majestic heads and manes. And so she knows the reason why everything in +her neighborhood appears as if it were dead. Just as the blood from the +whole body streams swiftly to the centre of life, when some sudden +stroke of fear or surprise reaches the heart, leaving the extremities +paralyzed and lifeless, so the whole population had collected around +that spot where their heart was to-day--the arch of triumph through +which the conquerors were to enter. The great bronze woman sees the +flash of arms and the waving of flags on the high-road before any one +else, and something like a smile flits across her tightly-shut lips. +Any one who had been watching her closely at this moment would have +seen that she raised her arm higher than usual, and slightly moved the +wreath in her hand, as if in token of greeting to the triumphal +procession. This occurred just as the bells rang out from all the +church towers in the city, and a shout of joy from a hundred thousand +throats announced the arrival of the advance guard. + +Among the entering host are two faces well-known to us. + +At the head of his regiment, which has left nearly half its number on +the cold ground at Bazeilles and Orleans, and for that reason has to +accept a double tribute of flowers from the windows on the right and +left, rides Captain von Schnetz, his lank figure seated bolt upright in +the saddle, his breast blazing with orders, and his whole person +covered from head to foot with the bouquets which, aimed at the rider, +have fallen off and been handed up to him by the boys that run along at +his side. He has decorated his sword with them, and his helmet, and his +pistols, and his horse's trappings, although usually he is no great +admirer of flowers. Nor does he do this now for his own glorification +or pleasure. But he knows that, at a window in the first story of that +stately house over yonder, there sits a woman, thin and prematurely +old, but whose cheeks, usually so pale, wear a joyous flush to-day, and +whose eyes, grown faded through long suffering, beam once more with +something of the brightness and hopefulness of youth. It is to this +woman that he wants to show himself in his covering of flowers. +Heretofore, she has worn a crown of thorns; now he wants to show her +the promising future he has won for himself and her. But she sees him +from a distance only. When the good, honesty yellow-leather-colored +face, with its black imperial, rides by, close to the house, her eyes +are so bedimmed by tears that she only sees, as if through a veil, how +he lowers his sword to her in salute, and bows slightly with his +garlanded helmet. The wreath which she has held ready for him falls +from her trembling hand over the railing upon the heads of the densely +packed crowd below. But they seem to know for whom it is intended. In a +second twenty hands have helped to pass it along to him, and now it is +handed up to the rider, who lets all the others slide off his sword so +that this one alone shall be wound about it. + +Not far behind this brave soldier rides another, upon whom, likewise, +the eyes of the women and girls in the windows gaze with pleasure, +though he is a stranger to them all, and, for his part, very rarely +lets his dark eyes rest on any of these blooming faces. For who is +there here whom he cares to seek? And whose face would he be glad to +see unexpectedly? It was only with great reluctance and in order not to +offend Schnetz, who asked it of him as a particular proof of +friendship, that he finally consented to take part in the entrance of +the troops, and to visit once more the city which had so many bitter +associations for him. These last two years--what a different man they +had made of him! And yet--although he was firmly convinced that the +source of every joy was dried up in his innermost heart, and that +henceforth nothing was left to him but a barren satisfaction at duties +conscientiously fulfilled--even he could not altogether escape the +festal mood of this marvelous hour. His handsome face, made bolder and +keener by the hardships of war, lost the sad, hard expression which had +never been absent from it during the whole year; a bright +determination, a quiet earnestness, beamed from his eyes. As he rode +through the triumphal avenue strewn with flowers, amid the chime of +bells and the wildest shouts of joy, he lost the consciousness of his +own hopeless lot, and became merged, as it were, in the great, +pervading spirit of a unique and sublime festival, which would never +come again; and to take part in which, with the Iron Cross on his +breast, and honorable, scarcely healed wounds underneath, was a +privilege which might well be thought to compensate for all the lost +bliss of a young life. + +After the entrance ceremonies were over, he wended his way toward the +garden on the Dultplatz, where he thought there would be the least +danger, to-day, of meeting any one of his acquaintances. Here, +surrounded on all sides by the country-folk who had streamed into the +city in great crowds, he sat in the shade of the ash-trees and, like a +dream, the events of the last two years passed in review before him; +from that first Sunday afternoon when he dined here with Jansen and his +new friends, down to the present moment, when he sat in the crowd +solitary and alone, sought by no friendly eye, and merely stared at as +one of that great host which had done honor to its fatherland. + +The crowd in the garden had already begun to thin out a little when +Schnetz touched the dreamer on the shoulder. He did not speak a word +about the meeting he had just had with his wife; but such an unwonted +joyousness could be detected in his voice and bearing that for the +first time Felix began to feel a quiet envy of this happy man, who had +been expected and welcomed by some one whom he loved. He, for his part, +would have greatly preferred to leave the town again before night; for +after the first glow of enthusiasm was over, his spirits had once more +become so gloomy that he would have given a great deal to escape from +the festivities of the evening. But he had promised Schnetz a whole +day, and he had too often been under obligations to his friend, in the +hard days of trial that winter, not to grant him this small favor. + +"Of course I will let you off from all ceremonial visits," said his +friend, as they left the garden arm-in-arm. "But we really must go and +pay our respects to the invalids, and afterward shake hands with Fat +Rossel. He would never forgive you if you didn't think it worth while +to congratulate him in his new state; and, besides, it is all up with +your _incognito_. At the window from which our friend Rossel viewed the +spectacle sat another individual, who once upon a time took a great +fancy to your worthy self, and who, notwithstanding the fact that her +grandpapa and husband stood behind her, gave vent to her patriotic +enthusiasm in the most unrestrained manner possible, throwing all the +flowers in her basket at you at one go. But, of course you, like Hans +the Dreamer, rode past your happiness all unconscious of it." + +"What, Red Zenz? And she recognized me?" + +"In spite of your uniform and short-cropped hair. But you must accustom +yourself to a more respectful way of speaking of her. One speaks now of +Frau Crescentia Rossel, _nee_ Schoepf. They wrote me about this affair +a good while ago; but as you refused, once for all, to listen to any +news about Munich matters, I kept this event from you also. It must +have come about curiously enough, and quite after the manner of the +creature as she was then--I mean, before she had been tamed by the yoke +of wedlock. You know--or don't you know yet?--that Rossel lost his +whole fortune some time ago. He had invested it with his brother, who +was at the head of a mercantile firm in the Palatinate, carrying on a +brisk trade with France. This brother became a bankrupt in consequence +of the war, and our Fat Rossel would have become a miserably poor devil +overnight if he had not owned the house in the city and the villa out +there on the lake. He immediately sold the house with all its +appurtenances, of course at a low enough figure, for no one had much +money to spare in war time. But for all that it was such a good round +sum, that the interest from it just succeeded in keeping his head above +water, though he could no longer live like a _grand seigneur_. A +purchaser might also have been found for the villa; but in order not to +disturb our good Kohle, who was in the very midst of his Venus +frescoes, he resisted the temptation, and--who would have thought +it?--aroused himself from his bear-skin to take up his brush again, +though, to be sure, with much grumbling and cursing. This act of +heroism seems to have melted, for the first time, the armor of ice in +which the heart of the little red coquette was encased; particularly as +he did not for a moment bemoan the loss of the property on his own +account, but only expressed the deepest sympathy for his brother. +To be brief, as he perceptibly pined away under all this, partly from +love-sickness, partly because he had been obliged to dispense with +the services of his all-too-sumptuous cook, this singular creature +was touched with pity for his troubles, appeared one day in the +scantily-furnished lodgings with which the former Sardanapalus was now +forced to content himself, and announced to him, without any further +ceremony, that she had been thinking the matter over, and was willing +to marry him. She felt, to be sure, not a spark of sentimental love for +him--such a love as that she had experienced but once in her life, and +then it had gone badly with her--but she no longer felt any aversion +toward him, and since he needed a wife who understood something about +housekeeping, he had better go and make inquiries whether there wasn't +another room and a kitchen to be had on the same floor, in which case +they could go on living there. + +"And they say the arrangement has really worked very well so far. Of +course old Schoepf has gone to live with them; and Uncle Kohle, who, in +the mean while, has refused the hand of Aunt Babette, and has quietly +gone on painting his Venus allegories in spite of Sedan and Paris, also +sleeps and takes his meals there; and Rossel paints one glorious +picture after another, protesting all the while, they say, against this +useless expenditure of strength, and longing for the time when he can +finally settle down to rest. I have my private suspicions, however, +that, in spite of all this talk, he is more contented with his present +life, even leaving his marital joys out of the question, than with the +barren seeds of thought which he, lying idly on his back, once +scattered to all the winds of heaven." + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + +In the mean while they had passed through the city, which was +richly decked out with flags, wreaths and mottoes, while crowds of +joyfully-excited people surged up and down the streets--and had arrived +at the English garden. + +"Where are you taking me to?" asked Felix. "There is no hospital within +twenty miles of here, unless they have been turning the Chinese tower +into one." + +"Come along," answered Schnetz. "You'll soon get things straight. The +queen-dowager selected the place herself, and no doubt many a poor +fellow will make true the saying: '_hodie eris mecum in Paradiso_.'" + +"In the Paradise garden? _In our Paradise?_ The boldest imagination +among us all could never have dreamed of such a thing as our meeting +there again under such different circumstances." + +"_Sic transit!_--And besides, our friends are, fortunately, much too +lively a pair of birds of paradise not to fly away again some fine +day." + +When they reached the garden gate, they saw that all the benches under +the trees were empty, although in all the other beer-gardens they had +passed the people sat packed close together. An inscription indicated +the different use to which the house was now devoted, and the few +grave-looking people who met them--among the rest women with eyes red +from weeping, leading little children by the hand, and further back in +the garden the pale, tottering figures of convalescents--formed a sharp +contrast to the noisy, merry crowd that was generally to be found here +on holidays. The two friends walked thoughtfully round to the other +side of the house, and, being in uniform, had no difficulty in +obtaining admittance. + +They had made the rounds of many a hospital-ward within the last year, +and had seen the after-effects of the war in much more horrible +pictures than any that clean, quiet rooms could offer them. + +And yet now, when they beheld once more the halls which they had left +in the blaze of the carnival time, robbed of all their ornaments, +and the sisters of charity moving softly up and down the long row of +sick-beds, soothing a moan of pain here and mixing a cooling drink +there; and the grotesque frescoes on the bare walls no longer concealed +by tall plants; and outside the window the pure sunlight shimmering +through the green treetops, instead of the midnight stars looking in +upon a merry feast--such mingled feelings came over them that neither +could utter a word. + +They started to look for their friends. But strange faces only looked +up at them from their beds of pain. Finally, a young doctor gave them +the desired information. + +The halls down below here were already full when the two gentlemen had +been brought in. So they had willingly acceded to their request to have +a room to themselves, and had quartered them in the top story. He +offered to guide them up there himself; but this Schnetz gratefully +declined, not wishing to take him away from his patients. + +So they mounted to the corridor of the top story, and at the very first +door which they came to they heard a voice from the room within that +caused them to start. It was a soft, girlish voice reading something +aloud--verses, as it seemed. + +"It isn't likely they are in here," muttered Schnetz, "unless they have +been seized with a pious fit, and have consented to let a sister of +charity come in and edify them with her hymn-book. Well, there have +been instances.--But no, this hymn-book has never seen the inside of a +church, at all events." + +They listened, and distinctly heard the lines. + +"'Holy Maid of Orleans, pray for us!'" cried Schnetz. "I must be +greatly mistaken in my man, if Elfinger isn't found somewhere near when +Schiller is being spouted." + +Without stopping to knock, he softly opened the door, and entered with +Felix. + +It was a high but not a very large room, whose only window opened on +the rear of the garden. Only a single ray of the afternoon sunshine +streamed through the gray blind and fell upon one of the beds that +stood near the wall on the right; while the other cot, opposite it, was +surrounded by a high Spanish screen, and was pushed back so as to be +entirely in the shade. + +On the bed to the right lay Rosenbusch, covered over with a thin +blanket, the upper part of his body propped up into a half-sitting +posture by pillows, holding a sketchbook on his knees and busily +engaged in drawing. + +Except that his face was somewhat paler, he showed no traces of the +hardships he had suffered; but on the contrary, his bright eyes beamed +from under a red fez as merrily, and he looked as fresh as he lay there +in his loose jacket, with his carefully-tended beard, as though he had +made his toilet for the express purpose of receiving visits. + +"I could have told you so!" he cried to his friends, as they entered +(the reader who sat behind the screen was silent in an instant)--"the +first visit of the saviours of the fatherland, on this day of triumph, +is to the invalid's paradise. God greet you, noble souls! You find us +here as well provided for as if we were in the lap of Abraham; art, +poetry, and love, make our life beautiful, and the fare is ample; +though, unfortunately, we are on invalids' diet. No, you mustn't look +at what I am scribbling. Or rather, for all I care, you may look at the +thing as much as you like. A Rosenbusch, _seconda maniera_, or _terza_ +rather, if I count in my classical period, my parting of Hector and +Iphigenia _a la_ David. Now, as you see, we are splashing about in +realism of the most modern sort--Father Wouverman will turn in his +grave, but I can't help that. And, after all, this pack of Turcos and +Zouaves are by no means to be despised. Magnificent contrasts of +color, set off by the vineyard scenery, and our own blue devils over +there--like a thunder-cloud. By Jove! it won't look bad, will it? Do +you know what the secret of modern battle-painting is, the clew to the +riddle, to find which I had first to have a hole shot in my thigh? The +episode, my dear fellow, nothing but the episode. Grouping in masses, +tricks of tactics--nonsense, a map would do just as well for that +purpose. But to condense in an episode the prevailing character of a +whole battle--that is the point. Those old fellows had an easy time of +it, for in those days a great, murderous battle was nothing but a +handful of episodes. Well, every man must accommodate himself to the +length of his blanket." + +"Tours is long enough to keep you warm, old comrade-in-arms," replied +Schnetz, examining the ingenious sketch with great pleasure. "But how +goes it with your bodily progress?" + +"Thanks. Fairly. In six or eight weeks I hope to prove myself quite a +lively dancer at my own wedding. I only wish," he added, in a lower +voice, with a slight movement of the head toward the other bed--"that +our friend over opposite had such bright prospects--" + +"Herr von Schnetz!" they now heard Elfinger's sonorous voice say from +behind the screen--"You seem to have completely forgotten that there +are other people living on the other side of the mountain. Whom have +you brought with you? To judge from the step it is our brave baron. +Won't the gentlemen be so kind as to do a poor blind man the honor? You +will find some one else here who will be very glad to welcome my old +friends again." + +At the first sound of these cheerful words, which moved him painfully, +Schnetz had stepped behind the screen and seized the hands the sick man +gropingly held out to him. Felix, too, approached. Elfinger could not +raise his head from the pillow on account of the ice compress that was +laid across both eyes, but the pale, finely-formed face beneath it lit +up with such a joyful smile, that the two friends were so moved they +could hardly stammer out the necessary words of greeting. + +A slim young figure had risen from the chair at the head of the bed to +make room for the gentlemen. She still held in her hand the book from +which she had been reading, and her delicate face blushed when Schnetz +turned and cordially pressed her hand. + +"I need not introduce you to one another," said Elfinger. "Baron Felix, +too, will probably recollect my little Fanny, from having met her at +that memorable boating party. In those days we two were not so well +acquainted with one another as we are now, for, as you know, 'it must +be dark for Friedland's stars to shine.' I still had one eye too many. +It is only since I have been left quite in the darkness that she has +clearly seen that her heavenly bridegroom would not be angry with her +for being unfaithful to him in order to light a poor blind cripple +through life. Isn't it so, sweetheart?" + +"Don't boast in such a godless way," they heard Rosenbusch call out, +"as if it were on your account, _pour tes beaux yeux_, as messieurs our +hereditary enemies say, that she became converted and joined our +society. Nonsense! Fraeulein Fanny, it is simply because you have to do +penance for your faithless sister, and redeem the honor of the Munich +women." + +"Be quiet over there, most fickle of mortals," cried Elfinger; "or I'll +complain of you to Angelica. You must know they take turns in nursing +us, these two good angels; and although that frivolous man opposite +ought to thank God that such an excellent woman has finally received +him into grace, he is perpetually making love to my sweetheart over the +screen. Fortunately, I have, once and for all, said good-by to +jealousy, which would certainly be ridiculous enough in a blind man--" + +"I hope you exaggerate, Elfinger," interrupted Felix; "when we took +leave of one another in Versailles the doctor gave us great reason to +hope--" + +"The way was a trifle long, and the snow-storm that welcomed us home to +our fatherland--pshaw! If it is so, and I only have enough twilight +left for me to recognize the outlines of a certain face when it is +close to mine, I will be happy. But even if this is no longer possible, +ought I not to count my lot fortunate? 'I had it once--I tell you I can +recall all the faces I loved as distinctly as if I had a pair of +perfect eyes in my head--" he felt for the hand of the blushing girl +and pressed it to his lips. "And now," he said, "enough about my +respected self. Since we last saw one another the most wonderful events +have come to pass. The German empire and the German emperor! Good God, +we praise Thee! Do you know, since all this happened I have begun to +have some hope for the German stage again?" + +"At all events, your colleagues have learned how to play the _role_ of +heroes respectably well, without opening their mouths wide, rolling +their eyes, and sawing the air with their arms and legs." + +"No, but seriously, do you remember our first conversation on this +subject, my dear baron? Now just see whether I haven't cause for hope. +Our want of unity was chiefly to blame for the wretched state of our +stage. Imagine thirty-six court-theatres fighting with one another for +the few actors who really have talent. Now, my idea is that, when they +have become a little sick of military spectacles up there in the +imperial capital, they will arrive at the conclusion that a great +nation also needs a national theatre; not one in name, but one which +shall really unite all the best talents. A model manager, a model +repertoire, and model performances, not given oftener than, at the +most, two days running; and not with one eye on Melpomene and Thalia, +and the other on the cash-box, so that a miserable clap-trap piece will +be allowed to remain on the desecrated boards thirty consecutive +nights, merely because a few actresses change their dresses seven times +in the course of the performance. Only the very choicest pieces must be +selected, from the classical and modern stock, and the parts must be +filled only by the strongest actors. All real talent must be engaged at +any price, though there should be three Franz Moors and Ophelias +playing against one another at the same time; and the whole must be +emancipated from all court influence, and regarded as an imperial +affair under the charge of the Minister of Culture, who should be +responsible to the nation. What do you say to such a stage?" + +"That it will continue to be too fine for this world for some time to +come," answered Schnetz. "But who knows? Even this world can improve; +we have seen how it has done in other fields. I only fear that, even +under the most favorable circumstances, the other Germans will +respectfully decline to give money, _in majorem imperii gloriam_, for a +theatre of which the Berliners alone will reap the benefit." + +"Naturally," cried Elfinger, gesticulating excitedly; "and they would +have a perfect right to do so. For that very reason my plan is to make +this model stage accessible to all the empire. What else do we have +railroads for, and the gala-performances that have been attempted here +and there? All that is necessary is that it should be made a regular +institution. Six winter months in Berlin, a month's vacation, four +months' of triumphal progress of the imperial actors through all the +cities of Germany in which a worthy temple of the muses can be found, +then another month of rest, and so on with grace _in infinitum_. Don't +say a word against it! The thing has its difficulties, but, when we +shall have gotten our theatrical Bismarck, you will see how well it +will work, and then everybody will wonder why it was not thought of +long before. Isn't it natural that the talent for impersonation should +also grow richer among a people who have finally won self-respect, who +have learned how to walk, and to stand, and to talk as well as the rest +of the world? I--of course, I have retired from the scene. But, +nevertheless, I can work for it. I will give instruction in +declamation; I will open the minds of the young actors; I will show +them how to recite verses and bring style into their prose--you know +rhapsodists always have been blind from time immemorial--and with the +aid of my little wife here, and of my tremendous memory--" + +At this moment the young doctor came in. He had heard Elfinger's +earnest speech outside in the corridor, and came to warn him not to +over-excite himself. His friends took leave at once. + +"I hope you won't leave Munich without having seen Angelica again," +said Rosenbusch. Felix, though he would greatly have preferred not to +look up any one else, had to promise that he would call on her. He did +not notice the peculiarly sly look which the painter bestowed upon +Schnetz. Still, although he believed he should not see these two good +friends again, he left them with a comforted feeling. He knew that +each, after his own fashion, had attained the goal of all his wishes. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + +Outside, they were swallowed up again in the roaring and surging human +stream, and borne toward the city. The old countess drove past them in +a very elegant open carriage, her daughter by her side, and her son +and son-in-law on the back seat, both in uniform and decorated with +medals of honor. The happy old woman, who was taking the fresh glories +of her family out for a ride, and gazing around her with proud eyes, +recognized Schnetz immediately, and nodded to him with amiable +familiarity. She looked at his companion through her eye-glass, but did +not appear to know him. + +"Brave youngsters," muttered Schnetz. "Whatever else you may say of +them, they certainly fought well. But now let's take a drosky. Of +course, our young husband lives outside there where the last houses +are." + +As they drew up before Rossel's quarters--a plain little house in +the Schwanthalerstrasse--they caught sight of a woman's head at the +flower-framed window above; but it was instantly drawn in again. + +"Madame is at home," said Schnetz, with a smile. "Of course, she has +been expecting your visit, and has probably arrayed herself in great +style. Hold on tight to your heart, _triumphator_!" + +Upon arriving up-stairs, they were not received by the lady of the +house herself, as he had expected, but by a servant-girl, who conducted +them into the studio. In comparison with the luxuriously-furnished +room in which their friend used to recline on his picturesque +bear-skin in his own house, this one was very scantily decorated. +There were no costly Gobelin tapestries, beautiful bronze vases, +and brilliantly-polished pieces of furniture in the style of the +Renaissance. But on some of the easels stood pictures in various stages +of completion, and the artist himself advanced to meet them, in his +shirt-sleeves and with his palette on his arm. + +"So here you are again!" he cried. "Now thanks be to all the gods that +you have come back with sound limbs and unscratched faces! You have a +fine piece of work behind you. Nor have we stay-at-homes been lazy in +the mean while; and though not fighting for emperor and empire, we can +at least say of ourselves that we have been working _pour le roi de +Prusse_. But it makes no odds, let us hope for better times; in the +mean while I am trying to drive away the blues with this daubing. For +Heaven's sake, don't look at the things; they are wretched efforts, +merely made in order to try my brush again. For that matter, you +mustn't look about you here at all--_quantum mutatus ab illo!_ Of all +my household goods, I have retained nothing but my Boecklin; a thing of +that sort is like a tuning-fork when one has lost the key-note. Neither +must you inspect me too closely. I am reduced, my dear fellows, very +much reduced. You see I have shrunken to unnatural proportions; what +has become of my rounded form? But, what could be expected when a man +gets to work by eight o'clock every day, and so violates his holiest +principles? But wait, I will go and call my wife. She is the thing best +worth seeing in the whole house." + +He made his friends sit down on a small leather sofa that bore little +resemblance to the celebrated "West-easterly" divan of former days, +and ran out calling for his wife. In the mean while, they had time to +look around. So much that was excellent met their view on all the +canvases--such clearness, and simplicity in form and color--that they +were moved to sincere enthusiasm, and eagerly expressed their delight +to one another. + +"You are too good," Rossel's voice rang out behind them. "It is +possibly true that, in the course of time, I have become a passably +good colorist. It isn't for nothing that a man refrains from his own +sins for ten years, and has no other thoughts than to get at the +secrets of the great. But so long as no one cares a rap about it, it +remains a barren, private delight, and finally withers like a plant in +a cellar. Who cares, nowadays, whether human flesh like this looks +fresh, or as if it had been tanned? The subject, the idea, and now, to +cap the climax, the patriotic sentiment--no offense, my heroes! Even in +that way we can drag ourselves out of the slough; of course, upon +condition that we give that nixie there a petticoat, and provide that +fisher-boy with a pair of swimming-trousers at the very least." + +"Amid all these profound remarks we have wandered from the main point +again," said Schnetz. "Where is your wife?" + +"She asks to be excused--says she is engaged--and won't show herself at +any price. I told her to her face it was only on account of the Herr +Baron. 'Of course,' she answered, 'I wouldn't mind the first-lieutenant +at all.' Oh, my dear friends, if I only were not so hen-pecked! But I +can assure you, much as I have always raved about women without brains, +I now see clearly that they are the very ones who know how to succeed +in having their own way. However, in the present case, it has turned +out to my advantage. For no matter how free from prejudices one may be, +he can't help making a wry face when he sees his wife blush slightly in +saying good-day to her first and only love. Won't you come and dine +with me to-morrow? Little, but cordially offered--_un piatto di +maccheroni, una brava bistecca, un fiasco di vino sincero_. I think the +lady of the house will make her appearance too--" + +Felix excused himself by saying that he was to leave on the following +day. Old Schoepf now entered, looking a little more dried up than +of yore, and with his dark face almost completely covered by his +snow-white hair and beard. He was in the best of spirits, and inquired +eagerly about the campaign experiences of his friends. When the +conversation turned upon Kohle, the old man declared that they must +certainly go out and visit him at the villa, to see the frescoes he had +already finished. He had only allowed himself a half-holiday, and had +hurried back again as soon as the entrance of the troops was over, to +add the last touches to the paneling. When Felix had to decline this +invitation likewise, the old gentleman bestowed a look of questioning +surprise upon his grandson-in-law; but he refrained from pressing the +young man any further, who acted as though the ground of Munich burned +under his feet. + +Felix was obliged to tell his friends about the position that awaited +him in Metz. On more than one occasion he had attracted attention at +headquarters, and his judgment and energy, the fact that he was +acquainted with the French language, and, perhaps, the wish to have +some one who was not a Prussian connected with the administration of +the conquered province, had united in causing him to be made aide to +the new governor of the frontier fortress. To carry out properly a task +which combined such difficult and untried elements, fresh minds were +required--such as had not merely acquired experience under existing +well-regulated forms of government, but such as had been schooled in +real life, and, fitted with the necessary mental quickness, were also +equipped for unforeseen contingencies. + +The grave face of our young Baron lighted up a little as he spoke of +the life of activity before him. But an expression of settled +resignation could be detected in every word he spoke. The others, +however, apparently paid no attention to this; and, as he went +down-stairs, Rossel shouted "_Au revoir!_" after him, just as in the +old times when they were certain of meeting again within a few days. + +As they stepped into the street, Felix heard his name called from one +of the windows above. He saw young Frau Rossel standing among the +evergreens, cheerfully nodding and waving her hand to him. Her delicate +coloring looked even brighter than in the old days; and a little +morning-cap, which she had coquettishly placed a little on one side on +her golden-red locks, gave her round face a most charming appearance of +housewifely dignity. + +"You are not to suppose I don't care anything more about my old +friends!" she shouted down to them. "At the entrance of the troops I +threw a whole lot of flowers at you; and you, proud sir, didn't deign +to look up once. Well, this time, at all events, you have turned to +look at me. Your uniform doesn't become you half as well as citizen's +dress. You don't look so distinguished in it. As for me, I couldn't +think of letting you see me. But in six or eight weeks from now--you +must come to the christening--do you hear? My husband will write to you +about it. And, now, good-by, and good luck to you. I'm sure I wish it +you with all my heart. You have certainly worked hard enough to deserve +it." + +With this the laughing face disappeared from the window, without +leaving the men time to say a word in reply. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + +"And now to Angelical," said Schnetz. "You haven't far to go, and she is +certain to be at home." + +Felix stood still. + +"Let me off from this visit," he said, his face suddenly darkening. +"Help me think of some excuse, so that I shan't offend the good girl. +You know how much I esteem her; but she is the only person who, I have +reason to believe, knows all. The others may have been satisfied with +that fiction about the duel; but she, Julie's best friend--" + +"No matter what she knows or doesn't know--nonsense! You can be as +brief as you want. Come, give me your hand on it. Good! And there's her +house there. I will say adieu to you here; I have some business to +attend to; and I will call for you this evening at the hotel, and we'll +go and see the illumination together." + +"They are all so kind!" cried Felix, when he was alone; "they all want +to help me to bear what is bitter and irremediable. But it is high time +for me to try a change of air. Here--where they are all going to lead +such happy and comfortable lives, and where every one breathes more +freely and more healthily now that the storm of war has swept away the +old mists and fogs--for me alone to go about with such a face among +these good, contented people--no! I must go away from here, and the +sooner the better. If I leave this evening, travel all night--to-morrow +I can be deep in my work. I will beg Angelica to excuse me to Schnetz. +She will be the first to understand that I am in no mood for +illuminations." + +He had no sooner formed this resolution than he drew a long breath, and +hastened his steps toward the house which Schnetz had pointed out to +him. The gloaming had already come, and the first candles of the +illumination were glowing in a few of the windows; but those at +Angelica's house were dark. Up-stairs the door was opened for him by +the old landlady, of whom Angelica hired her lodgings. The Fraeulein was +at home, she said, pointing to the nearest door. He knocked with a +beating heart, of which he felt fairly ashamed. A woman's voice called +out "Come in." As he entered the dusky room, a slender figure rose from +the sofa, on which it had had been idly sitting as if waiting for him. +"Is it permitted me to come so late, my dear friend?" he said, +advancing hesitatingly. The figure tottered forward to meet him, and +now for the first time he recognized the features of the face--"Irene! +Good God!" he cried, and involuntarily stood still; but the next moment +he felt two arms encircling him, and burning lips pressed to his own, +stifling every word and plunging his senses into a whirl of delirious +joy. It was as if she wanted never to let him recover his speech again; +as if she feared he might vanish from her arms forever, the moment she +let him go. Even when she finally removed her lips from his and drew +him, bewildered and trembling, upon the sofa at her side, she went on +talking alone, as if any word that he might throw in would destroy the +spell that had at last led the loved one to her side again. He had +never seen her thus before; the last bar had fallen from her virgin +heart; and a yielding woman, laughing and weeping in the sweetness of +passion, lay upon his breast, with her arms around his neck. + +Not a word was said about that which had kept him from her so long. It +was as if the war had called him from her side, and now at last he had +returned and all would be well again, and far more beautiful than it +could ever have been without his youthful heroism and his honorable +scars. He had to listen to many tender complaints and reproaches for +not having given her any news about himself in all this time. But the +moment he tried to say a word in his own defense, she closed his lips +with impassioned kisses. + +"Be still!" she cried. "It is true you are a great sinner, my darling +hero, but I--what wouldn't I forgive you on this day, this glorious day +of festival and joy! And, you see, it did not help you any after all. +You imagined you were safe from me, and thought you could march in here +with the rest without any one's being the wiser, while I sat and sulked +in my old-maid's cell on the Lung' Arno. But this is the time of +miracles! I cast aside my pride of birth, and all the good training I +owe to myself, as if they had been old rags, and went to uncle and said +to him: 'If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to +the mountain. That wicked Felix would like to be rid of me; but it +takes two to do that. Come, uncle, let us go to Munich. I must see my +lover ride in through the gate of victory, Schnetz writes that he looks +nobly in his uniform, and I can't help it even if the old countess +doesn't think it proper for me to run after this faithless man. He ran +after me long enough, and we ought to exchange _roles_ for once.' And +so here I am, and have been sitting here on the very same spot for +three hours, waiting for a certain youthful hero, and scolding terribly +at Schnetz, who had promised me that he would entice him into this +love-trap just as soon as he possibly could. And now it has actually +sprung upon you, and you sha'n't be let out again as long as you live." + +The lights in the streets outside had long been blazing in full +brilliancy, and under the windows a joyous crowd of happy people +streamed past toward the centre of the city, where the illumination was +said to be the finest. But the two happy lovers had forgotten all else +in the bliss, so long deferred, of gazing into one another's eyes and +seeing the flame of inextinguishable love and devotion glowing there. +She asked after the companions who had been with him through the war, +and he after the friends she had left behind in Florence. But neither +paid much attention to what the other answered; all they cared for was +to hear each other speak, and to assure themselves by the sound of +their voices that they were once more united. + +An hour may have passed in this way, when some one knocked softly. The +knock was repeated three times before they heard it, and Irene ran to +open the door. Angelica came flying in, the two girls fell on one +another's necks, and good Angelica's voice was so stifled by suppressed +tears that it was a long time before she could speak. + +"Of course I have come too soon," she said at last; "but when +wouldn't it have been too soon? A thousand congratulations, my dear +Felix--pardon me, the Herr Baron doesn't come glibly to me to-day--and +now, make haste, so as to see a little of the illumination--it is +magnificent--we have just come from it, and Irene certainly didn't +travel five hundred miles just to sit here in the dark while all Munich +swims in a sea of light. Besides, she saw very little of the review +this morning, for she only had eyes for a single defender of the +Fatherland. You will have seen all you want to in half an hour, and +then I invite the ladies and gentlemen to assemble once more under my +humble roof and partake of a modest cup of tea. Schnetz will also +appear, and your uncle, the baron, has solemnly pledged me his word not +to let himself be dragged into any champagne-supper to-day. It's a pity +Rosenbusch isn't well enough yet! The poor fellow has only a lame leg, +and an elderly girl as a wife, as a reward for all his bravery. But +don't you think he bears his lot with incredible fortitude?" + +The lights of the festival had long been extinguished, and the last +joyous echo of this happy day had died out, when Felix entered the +little room, which was the only one still to be had in the whole great +hotel. Even now he could not think of such a thing as sleep. He sat +down on the bed and drew from his pocket a letter which Irene had given +him when he parted from her before her hotel, and gazed--with what +overmastering emotion!--upon the handwriting of the friend whom he had +believed to be lost to him forever, and whom this day restored to him +again, to add to all its other unexpected blessings. He read the +following lines: + + +"Let this letter bear you our congratulations, dear old friend. When it +comes into your hands the last shadow will have been lifted from your +life. You will hear enough about us from the lips of your beloved, to +satisfy you of our happiness. But, possibly, there may be one subject +concerning which she may feel a delicacy about speaking; our happiness +is now secure from all external interruption. A few weeks ago a legal +divorce was effected, and our union, which certainly stood in no need +of a certificate to cement it closer, has now, for the children's sake, +received the sanction of the law. The unhappy woman herself lent a hand +in bringing this about. She is in Athens, where a rich Englishman has +been paying his court to her. The last spark of ill-will toward her has +been extinguished in me. I can think of her as of one dead. May she +find peace in the sphere she has voluntarily chosen--as far as such a +being ever can find or bear peace. + +"And now let us at least hear from you again, my dear old boy. All we +have heard about you has rejoiced our hearts. You are about to enter +upon a new phase of life, and to put in order that part of the world +which has been assigned to you. I wish you all success. After all, it +is your proper calling; and if the wise saying of our friend Rossel is +correct, that real happiness is merely that condition in which we are +most keenly conscious of our individuality, you certainly must be +esteemed happy, and will make happy the noble heart that has +surrendered to you. Dear old fellow, what a splendid prize each of us +has drawn! That we had to work hard to deserve it, is all the better. +All that is not deserved humiliates. And we still have an excess of +happiness given us by the gods, whom we ought not to be too proud to +thank. + +"But here I am talking about our own fates, and passing by, without a +single word, the great and mighty event in the world's history which +has just been concluded. Though, to be sure, there are no words capable +of expressing its greatness and importance. In the consciousness of +this dumb amazement the feeling can scarcely be avoided that the Muses, +who are usually silent mid the clash of arms, will not recover their +voices very soon. You men of action have the lead for some time to +come; for the revolution that has taken place in the public mind, and +the movement which has extended to all conditions of life and of civil +society, is far more wonderful, far more pregnant with consequences +than you, who took an active part in it, can appreciate in the first +pause after your final blows. We who are lookers-on are in a position +to get a more comprehensive view, for we can also see how the recoil, +of whose force you can have no conception, acts upon our neighbors. + +"The truth is, this is a period of reconstruction of all political and +social conditions; whatever is essential asserts itself, and whatever +is _real_ clamors everywhere for the place that belongs to it by +nature. Consequently, those who are called upon to rearrange our new +life have the first and last word; while those who, like us artists, +have to do with dreams, stand aloof and thank fortune if their names +are still mentioned now and then. You know that, with all due respect +for politics, I cannot regard them as belonging to the highest problems +of the human mind. The possible and the useful, the expedient and the +necessary are, and must ever be, relative aims; it should be the task +of the statesman to make himself less and less necessary, to educate +the public sense of justice so that the greatest possible number of +free individuals can live in harmony with one another; and each, alone +or in conjunction with some fellow-workman, can occupy himself with the +eternal problems. Shall we live to see the time when the arts which +have heretofore flourished like wild flowers upon ruins, shall adorn +the symmetrical, inhabited, and solid walls of the new structure of the +state with their foliage of undying green? Who can say? Mankind lives +quickly in these days. In the mean while let each one do his best. + +"Farewell, and make up your mind to _live_, and to let your fellow-men +_know_ that you live. I wish you could all--dear, good, and faithful +friends--wrap yourselves in the mantle of Faust and be set down among +us at this very moment. I am writing this letter in a villa on the +slope of the splendid hill that bears upon its summit old Fiesole. +Julie is walking up and down the garden carrying our _Bimba_ in her +arms, while little Frances walks by her side, busily studying her +lesson. How beautiful the world is all around me! And with what still, +pure, silent joy do I think of you, dear friends! Come and give us a +sight of your happiness, and rejoice with us in ours! + +"And then we will make the old 'Paradise' to live again under another +heaven and on a new soil." + + + + THE END. + + + + + + REMORSE. + + From the French of TH. BENTZON. + + (_Forming Number_ 13 _of the "Collection of Foreign Authors._") + + 16mo. Paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, 75 cents. + + * * * * * + + _From Lippincott's Magazine_. + +"'Remorse,' which appeared recently in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, is +a novel of great power. The author, who writes under the name of 'Th. +Bentzon,' is Madame Blanc, a woman of great intelligence and the +highest character." + + + _From the New York Sun_. + +"The story entitled 'Remorse' attracted much attention from the grace +and vivacity of its style, and from the singular vigor evinced in the +portrait of a literary personage whose successive love-affairs were +turned to the account of his poetry and novel-writing. The essential +shallowness and meanness of such a nature are strikingly contrasted +with the earnest and genuine character of the heroine, and the elements +of a tragical situation are evolved with much ingenuity out of this +antithesis. There is in these figures a certain crispness and +vividness, as if the author had studied their counterparts In real +life." + + + _From the New York Graphic_. + +"Told with such grace and delicacy as to render it intensely +interesting. It belongs to the best class of modern French fiction, +which embraces the finest representatives of literary taste and skill." + + + _From the New York Evening Post_. + +"Th. Bentzon is a novelist of no mean gifts, even in the art of apt +narration, while her handling of strong passion is at times very fine. +'Remorse' is a tale of considerable power." + + + _From the Boston Courier_. + +"'Remorse' is a book of positive grasp, and penetrates the senses with +a keen, steady point, like that of a rapier." + + + _From the Boston Gazette_. + +"'Remorse' has strong dramatic power in its plot, which is treated in a +manner that makes it interesting. It is a story of self-sacrifice +spiritedly told, and showing both thought and care in its delineation +of character. Some of the more passionate scenes are full of intensity, +and the interest is fully sustained to the end." + + + _From the Utica Morning Observer_. + +"It is sparkling and brilliant, full of that nameless element which +makes the society novels of the French so attractive and so +sensational." + + + _From the Washington National Republican_. + +"This is a highly interesting tale. It is well written; its characters +are delineated with an artistic touch; its theme is well developed, and +its incidents are of startling interest." + + * * * * * + + _D. APPLETON & CO._, 549 & 551 _Broadway, New York_. + + + + AMERICAN PAINTERS: + + _Biographical Sketches of Fifty American Artists_. + + WITH EIGHTY-THREE EXAMPLES OF THEIR WORKS, + + Engraved on Wood in a perfect manner. + + * * * * * + +Quarto; cloth, extra gilt Price, $7.00: full morocco, $13.00. + + * * * * * + + + _The painters represented in this work are as follows_: + + + CHURCH, HUNT, J. H. BEARD, + INNES, WHITTREDGE, W. H. BEARD, + HUNTINGTON, W. HART, PORTER, + PAGE, J. M. HART, G. L. BROWN, + SANFORD GIFFORD, McENTEE, APPLETON BROWN, + SWAIN GIFFORD, COLMAN, CROPSEY, + DURAND, HICKS, CASILEAR, + R. W. WEIR, WINSLOW HOMER, E. JOHNSON, + W. T. RICHARDS, DE HAAS, SHIRLAW, + T. MORAN, J. G. BROWN, CHASE, + P. MORAN, WYANT, BRICHER, + PERRY, WOOD, ROBBINS, + BELLOWS, BRISTOL, WILMARTH, + SHATTUCK, REINHART, EATON, + MILLER, BRIDGMAN, GUY, + J. F. WEIR, BIERSTADT, QUARTLEY, + HOPKINSON SMITH, MEEKER, + + * * * * * + +The publishers feel justified in saying that the contemporaneous art of +no country has ever been so adequately represented in a single volume +as our American Painters are in this work, while the engravings are +equal in execution to the finest examples of wood-engraving produced +here or abroad. + + + OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. + + * * * * * + +"The richest and in many ways the most notable of fine art books is +'American Painters,' just published, with unstinted liberality in the +making. Eighty-three examples of the work of American artists, +reproduced in the very best style of wood-engraving, and printed +with rare skill, constitute the chief purpose of the book; while +the text which accompanies them, the work of Mr. George W. Sheldon, +is a series of bright and entertaining biographical sketches of +the artists, with a running commentary--critical, but not too +critical--upon the peculiarities of their several methods, purposes, +and conceptions."--_New York Evening Post_. + +"The volume gives good evidence of the progress of American art. It +shows that we have deft hands and imaginative brains among painters of +the country, and it shows, moreover, that we have publishers who are +liberal and cultured enough to present their works in a handsome and +luxurious form that will make them acceptable. 'American Painters' will +adorn the table of many a drawing-room where art is loved, and where it +is made still dearer from the fact that it is native."--_New York +Express_. + +"It is at once a biographical dictionary of artists, a gallery of pen +portraits and of beautiful scenes, sketched by the painters and +multiplied by the engraver. It is in all respects a work of art, and +will meet the wants of a large class whose tastes are in that +direction."--_New York Observer_. + +"One of the most delightful volumes issued from the press of this +country."--_New York Daily Graphic_. + +"Outside and inside it is a thing of beauty. The text is in large, +clear type, the paper is of the finest, the margins broad, and the +illustrations printed with artistic care. The volume contains brief +sketches of fifty prominent American artists, with examples from their +works. Some idea of the time and labor expended in bringing out the +work may be gathered from the fact that to bring it before the public +in its present form cost the publishers over $12,000."--_Boston Evening +Transcript_. + +"This book is a notable one, and among the many fine art books it will +rank as one of the choicest, and one of the most elegant, considered as +an ornament or parlor decoration. The engravings are in the highest +style known to art. Mr. Sheldon has accompanied the illustrations with +a series of very entertaining biographical sketches. As far as +possible, he has made the artists their own interpreters, giving their +own commentaries upon art and upon their purposes in its practice +instead of his own."--_Boston Post_. + +"'American Painters' consists of biographical sketches of fifty leading +American artists, with eighty-three examples of their works, engraved +on wood with consummate skill, delicacy of touch, and appreciation +of distinctive manner. It is a gallery of contemporary American +art."--_Philadelphia Press_. + +"This work is one of surpassing interest, and of marvelous +typographical and illustrative beauty."--_Philadelphia Item_. + +"The whole undertaking is a noble one, illustrative of the best period +of American art, and as such deserves the attention and support of the +public."--_Chicago Tribune_. + + * * * * * + + D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, New York. + + + + HEALTH PRIMERS. + + EDITED BY + + J. LANGDON DOWN, M. D., F. R. C. P. + HENRY POWER, M. B., F. R. C. S. + J. MORTIMER-GRANVILLE, M. D. + JOHN TWEEDY, F. R. C. S. + +Though it is of the greatest importance that books upon health should +be in the highest degree trustworthy, it is notorious that most of the +cheap and popular kind are mere crude compilations of incompetent +persons, and are often misleading and injurious. Impressed by these +considerations, several eminent medical and scientific men of London +have combined to prepare a series of Health Primers of a character that +shall be entitled to the fullest confidence. They are to be brief, +simple, and elementary in statement, filled with substantial and useful +information suitable for the guidance of grown-up people. 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